hocking, banned and the subject of obscenity trials, Henry Miller's first novelTropic of Canceris one of the most scandalous and influential books of the twentieth century -- new to Penguin Modern Classics with a cover by Tracey Emin
Tropic of Cancerredefined the novel. Set in Paris in the 1930s, it features a starving American writer who lives a bohemian life among prostitutes, pimps, and artists. Banned in the US and the UK for more than thirty years because it was considered pornographic,Tropic of Cancercontinued to be distributed in France and smuggled into other countries. When it was first published in the US in 1961, it led to more than 60 obscenity trials until a historic ruling by the Supreme Court defined it as a work of literature. Long hailed as a truly liberating book, daring and uncompromising,Tropic of Canceris a cornerstone of modern literature that asks us to reconsider everything we know about art, freedom, and morality.
'At last an unprintable book that is fit to read' Ezra Pound
'A momentous event in the history of modern writing' Samuel Beckett
'The book that forever changed the way American literature would be written' Erica Jong