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Tropic of Cancer
by Miller, Henry
- Used
- near fine
- Paperback
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine/Wraps
- ISBN 10
- 0394178971
- ISBN 13
- 9780394178974
- Seller
-
Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
U.S.A.: Grove Press, 1975. First Thus. . Trade Paperback. Near Fine/Wraps. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. First Thus, First PB Edition, Evergreen imprint #E-664. Trade paperback in printed blue wraps. Near Fine. Wraps rubbed, front corners curled and delaminating, else Fine; square w/ firm bimding, flat spine, interior clean and unmarked. xxxiii, 318pp inc. new Introduction by Karl Shapiro, and the original Preface by Anais Nin.
Synopsis
Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer is one of the most notoriously and frequently censored books in the history of American literature. In a combination of autobiography and fiction, the novel centers of Miller’s own life as a struggling writer in Paris in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Tropic of Cancer is written in the first person and lacks linear organization, two of Miller’s most favored techniques. Some chapters are narratives about Miller’s friends and workplaces, and others are stream-of-consciousness-style reflections, but all of the chapters touch on the sexual exploits and general low-life ruthlessness in which the author had engaged at the time. Tropic of Cancer was first published by Obelisk Press, a French publisher of soft pornography, in Paris in 1934. Shortly thereafter, the novel was banned in the US and later tried for charges of obscenity, a trial that challenged American pornography laws at the time. In 1961, the ban of Tropic of Cancer was lifted, and later that year, Grove Press published the first US edition of the novel, but only after the firm’s Barney Rosset offered Miller a sizeable advance and promised to defend the author in any future legal battles regarding the publication. Grove Press’s edition of Tropic of Cancer sold over 1 million copies by the end of 1961… and was the subject of about 60 lawsuits as well, one of which involved the American Civil Liberties Union. All of this hullabaloo makes one wonder what the reactions might have been if Miller had decided to go with the novel’s working title, Crazy Cock — which was, ironically, far more modest than the published version. Regardless, the novel’s 1970 film adaptation, directed by Joseph Strick, received an X rating (meaning no one 17 and under admitted). Today, Tropic of Cancer finds itself ranked 50th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century and 59th on The Guardian’s list of the 100 best novels.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Basement Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 017336
- Title
- Tropic of Cancer
- Author
- Miller, Henry
- Format/Binding
- Trade Paperback
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Wraps
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Thus.
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10
- 0394178971
- ISBN 13
- 9780394178974
- Publisher
- Grove Press
- Place of Publication
- U.S.A.
- Date Published
- 1975
- Size
- 8vo - over 7¾" - 9&f
- Keywords
- FICTION ROMANCE RELATIONHIPS SEX
- Bookseller catalogs
- Literature;
Terms of Sale
Basement Books
All items subject to prior sale. International orders accepted by payment in U.S.D. through PayPal or checks payable through a U.S. bank. Items may be returned within 10 days (in the same condition as shipped), if not as described. Please e-mail prior to return.
About the Seller
Basement Books
Biblio member since 2003
Albuquerque, New Mexico
About Basement Books
BASEMENT BOOKS, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, specializes in hard-to-find non-fiction, Western Americana, History, and First Edition mysteries and literature.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- Trade Paperback
- Used to indicate any paperback book that is larger than a mass-market paperback and is often more similar in size to a hardcover...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- PB
- ...
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