Henry Miller

The author of Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch, written in Big Sur, CA, Henry Miller is also the dominant figure in the narrative, talking about his striving to simplify his life and talking about many of the local folk who have embraced the healing ambiance and discovered how to live in peace, solitude, and community.

Miller alludes to and in some cases describes in some detail his happy childhood in Brooklyn, NY, his frustrating work life in New York City, his life in France until the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, and his happy sojourn in Greece until the Nazis arrive there in early 1940. Reluctantly he returns to the United States, from which he had intended to be a permanent expatriate, and finally after sojourns in New York and the Los Angeles area, settles in Big Sur, which he finds to be...