About this Event
In this monthly book club dedicated to reading and protecting the most important and threatened books for our generation, April's pick Tropic of Cancer. Now hailed as an American classic, Henry Miller's masterpiece, was banned as obscene in this country for twenty-seven years after its first publication in Paris in 1934.
We will meet in person at our store at The Mark, 117 S. Pineapple Ave. The book club is $`18 which includes a copy of The Tropic of Cancer to be picked up at Bookstore1 any time before our meeting.
About The Tropic of Cancer:
Now hailed as an American classic, Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller’s masterpiece, was banned as obscene in this country for twenty-seven years after its first publication in Paris in 1934. Only a historic court ruling that changed American censorship standards, ushering in a new era of freedom and frankness in modern literature, permitted the publication of this first volume of Miller’s famed mixture of memoir and fiction, which chronicles with unapologetic gusto the bawdy adventures of a young expatriate writer, his friends, and the characters they meet in Paris in the 1930s. Tropic of Cancer is now considered, as Norman Mailer said, “one of the ten or twenty great novels of our century.”
Praise for the novel:
“A matter-of-fact celebration of chucking one’s dreary life and following your heart to Paris.” —Richard Price, from his “My Five Most Essential Books” published in Newsweek (April 13, 2009)
“There is an eager vitality and exuberance to the writing which is exhilarating; a rush of spirit into the world as though all the sparkling wines have been uncorked at once; we watchfully hear the language skip, whoop and wheel across Miller’s page.” —William H. Gass, The New York Times Book Review
Henry Miller was born in New York City on December 26, 1891. Miller briefly attended City College of New York, but abandoned his university studies after only two months. In 1930 Miller traveled to Paris, where he stayed until 1940. During this period he was financed by his lover and fellow writer, Anaïs Nin, who helped him obtain a first printing of the celebrated and controversial Tropic of Cancer (1934); the book was banned in the United States at the time Grove Press printed it in 1961, which promptly initiated a costly, but successful, Supreme Court case to overrule the ban. Read more about Henry Miller here: https://groveatlantic.com/author/henry-miller/.
About Book Bans:
Book bans in public schools have recurred throughout American history, and remain an issue of concern to us at Bookstore1Sarasota. Over the past years, the scope of such censorship has expanded rapidly. In response, PEN America has collated an Index of School Book Bans, offering a snapshot of the trend. The index provides a comprehensive list of books banned in the first half of the 2022-2023 school year. Check it out and join us in our efforts to protect free expression and students' first amendment rights. You can view the index here: https://pen.org/index-of-school-book-bans-2022 .
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All signed up and unable to go? Please let us know! Seating is limited and there may be people on our waitlist who would like to to take your place. Please send an email to [email protected] ASAP and hopefully we'll see you next time.
Click to go to the Bookstore1Sarasota website.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Bookstore1Sarasota, 117 S. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota, United States
USD 18.00