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Genius & Lust: A Journey Through the Major Writings of Henry Miller
Norman Mailer
492 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
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About the author
Norman Mailer
343 books1,419 followersNorman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.
Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, and Tom Wolfe, Mailer is considered an innovator of creative nonfiction, a genre sometimes called New Journalism, but which covers the essay to the nonfiction novel. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize twice and the National Book Award once. In 1955, Mailer, together with Ed Fancher and Dan Wolf, first published The Village Voice, which began as an arts- and politics-oriented weekly newspaper initially distributed in Greenwich Village. In 2005, he won the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from The National Book Foundation.
Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, and Tom Wolfe, Mailer is considered an innovator of creative nonfiction, a genre sometimes called New Journalism, but which covers the essay to the nonfiction novel. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize twice and the National Book Award once. In 1955, Mailer, together with Ed Fancher and Dan Wolf, first published The Village Voice, which began as an arts- and politics-oriented weekly newspaper initially distributed in Greenwich Village. In 2005, he won the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from The National Book Foundation.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 25, 2022
I am making it my business to read and own all of Mailer's books and have read a lot of his writing now. I guess it is inevitable that I am going to end up with some of the really big and/or really bad ones. This book is a real oddity but I think falls into the big and bad category (but maybe not terrible).
It is a bit difficult as this is basically Mailer's anthology of Henry Miller's work (which I think wasn't really available in the States as it is too rude?) where the former is making the case for the latter's greatness. However I have read lots more Mailer than Miller - I think I have only read Tropic of Cancer by the latter. Instead of a lot of Mailer writing what you actually get is very large sections of Miller's writing interspersed with a few random ruminations by Norman. As a result this is, and feels, very long. Also I don't think most people would agree with Mailer's assessment that Miller is one of the greatest writers of the 20th Century and I don't think Mailer's slightly pretentious ruminations make that case particularly well (in fact I think that while Mailer does rate Miller he actually criticises him quite a bit and his massive ego means he thinks he is still better than him).
Also, while I can understand the case for Miller's early work at a point in time (even though that is still controversial) it is hard not to read the anthology as an overall decline in relevance and quality as the latter works descend into some excerpts which are overwritten, trite or just plain boring. Miller's key works are clearly Tropic of Cancer and maybe Tropic of Capricorn but that does seem to be it. Even those first two seem quite problematic looking back at them. The main character (called Henry Miller) basically has lots and lots of sex, which he describes in elaborate detail and metaphor, whilst generally treating everyone but particularly the women he has sex with very badly. There is an urgency to his writing and great imagination in the extensive comparisons he makes but it is all just really a load of seemingly meaningless sex and I am not really sure what point he is trying to make (if at all) unlike say D.H. Lawrence for whom it has a broader philosophical purpose.
I can understand Mailer loved all of this, because he liked to shock people out of their comfortable conservative ways (both writers seem desperate to use the 'C' word a lot), but at the same time it is all still in the same vein of men asserting their freedom (including their sexuality) largely at women's expense. I also have a sneaking suspicion that this might just have been another way of Mailer getting a book out and making some money without having to write very much - which he also has form for. Overall, if you want a good Mailer book then I wouldn't start here, there are lots of better ones around. If you want an anthology of Henry Miller however you might like this but even then, in my opinion, you are probably better off just reading all of Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn where he is at his best.
It is a bit difficult as this is basically Mailer's anthology of Henry Miller's work (which I think wasn't really available in the States as it is too rude?) where the former is making the case for the latter's greatness. However I have read lots more Mailer than Miller - I think I have only read Tropic of Cancer by the latter. Instead of a lot of Mailer writing what you actually get is very large sections of Miller's writing interspersed with a few random ruminations by Norman. As a result this is, and feels, very long. Also I don't think most people would agree with Mailer's assessment that Miller is one of the greatest writers of the 20th Century and I don't think Mailer's slightly pretentious ruminations make that case particularly well (in fact I think that while Mailer does rate Miller he actually criticises him quite a bit and his massive ego means he thinks he is still better than him).
Also, while I can understand the case for Miller's early work at a point in time (even though that is still controversial) it is hard not to read the anthology as an overall decline in relevance and quality as the latter works descend into some excerpts which are overwritten, trite or just plain boring. Miller's key works are clearly Tropic of Cancer and maybe Tropic of Capricorn but that does seem to be it. Even those first two seem quite problematic looking back at them. The main character (called Henry Miller) basically has lots and lots of sex, which he describes in elaborate detail and metaphor, whilst generally treating everyone but particularly the women he has sex with very badly. There is an urgency to his writing and great imagination in the extensive comparisons he makes but it is all just really a load of seemingly meaningless sex and I am not really sure what point he is trying to make (if at all) unlike say D.H. Lawrence for whom it has a broader philosophical purpose.
I can understand Mailer loved all of this, because he liked to shock people out of their comfortable conservative ways (both writers seem desperate to use the 'C' word a lot), but at the same time it is all still in the same vein of men asserting their freedom (including their sexuality) largely at women's expense. I also have a sneaking suspicion that this might just have been another way of Mailer getting a book out and making some money without having to write very much - which he also has form for. Overall, if you want a good Mailer book then I wouldn't start here, there are lots of better ones around. If you want an anthology of Henry Miller however you might like this but even then, in my opinion, you are probably better off just reading all of Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn where he is at his best.
February 17, 2022
Ako volite Millera, ova knjiga je savršen pokazatelj njegove ličnosti.
September 19, 2022
Pāpori end
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews