Henry Miller letter to the Webbs (1 Viewer)

cirerita

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Henry Miller to the Webbs on It Catches...

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Shows Miller's usual generosity of spirit and his willingness to open doors for his worthy colleagues. This is also another interesting juxtaposition of Miller's and Bukowski's life, starting from the time when they were both printed in "Portfolio," during the 1940s, yet remaining on their own track of individual literary development. It's virtually impossible to make it on your own, no matter how talented you may be, or how much of a loner; it takes help and some continuing involvement with the human race, even if the worth of humanity as a whole can be argued against. I'm glad these two giants were on the planet when I came into my existence; hard to imagine life without them.

These men were so far ahead of their time, it's unbelievable. I have no problem mentioning Henry Miller in the same breath with Charles Bukowski. I consider them both brothers under the skin, and between the two of them they were like polarities to each other"”Miller was the irrepressible optimist, no matter how shitty life got, willing to eat from garbage cans in Paris in order to survive and write; and Bukowski had a more pessimistic view of humanity, but nevertheless mellowed with age and talked of the "light somewhere." Light represents something positive, perhaps even something reverent or wholly, and there are passages within the works of both men that say basically the same thing: that life is worth living, and that it's up to you to live it. And it can be done if you continue to look for a way out, which usually means finding a way in. Anyway, happy reading.
 
"...something reverent or wholly..."
Wholly what?
Cow?
:)
Sorry poptop....couldn't resist.

That's a great quote from Miller and I agree with your point on their somewhat parallel literary/philosophical orbits. Yet, like orbiting bodies, had they made contact, it would have ended in disaster, no doubt.
 
george bernard shaw called harris, "the most impossible ruffian on the face of the earth."

and oscar wilde, "frank harris has been to all the great houses of england - once!"

and in the opening sentence to a bio of harris by one vincent brome, the biographer states, "no one more successfully mangled the facts about his own life than frank harris." yes - not until the b...
 
...It's virtually impossible to make it on your own, no matter how talented you may be, or how much of a loner; it takes help...


Tis true, Pops.
And for some it may be difficult to ask for help. Some are stubborn assholes who think the talent & uniqueness of their works oughta usher in a chain reaction and lead to uncontrollable forest fires of sales & reviews & interviews without the need to ask for help.

Miller wrote to everyone he could think of and asked for help; Buk mailed off his stuff to every magazine/address he could find. They both networked their asses off.

My problem is I don't know who to write to...and I hate human beings. I don't trust them...Terrible, moody, unpredictable lot they are...Them and their What's in it for me? trip...Fuck a duck...

Just finished The Air-Conditioned Nightmare. I enjoyed the Prologue best. He ranted about America and it was as if he had written it last week. He actually wrote it in the early 1940s. He was definitely way ahead of his time and seemingly quite ballsy. I wonder what the FBI thought of him...
 
I'll say it again: I'm a Xerox kind of guy.

By the way, soon -maybe next January- I'll sell all the mags and chaps I've won on eBay recently. It's a nice lot, mostly of uncollected stuff. I'll sell it at the same price I paid for, and I'll anounce here. I think it might interest some of you.

But first I have to xerox everything :D
 
So I reviewed and love reading Screams From The Balcony....
In several letters he talks about Henry Miller, and loves him, hopes he will review his works, discusses how Miller loves Crucifix, and in others says he is....pissed him off, but hasn't really read him.
How did he really feel about Miller?
 

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