We’re pleased to announced that our great friend Arthur Hoyle has just published a new Miller biography entitled “The Unknown Henry Miller: A Seeker in Big Sur.”

The Unknown Henry Miller recounts Miller’s career from its beginnings in Paris in the 1930s but focuses on his years living in Big Sur, California, during which he wrote many of his most important books, including The Rosy Crucifixion trilogy; married and divorced twice; raised two children; painted watercolors, and tried to live out an aesthetic and personal credo of self-realization.

Drawing extensively on correspondence between Miller and the members of his intimate literary circle – Anaïs Nin, Lawrence Durrell, Alfred Perlès, James Laughlin, Wallace Fowlie, Huntington Cairns, and Emil Schnellock – and examining closely key Miller texts, this biography presents a rounded portrait of Miller the man and artist as he struggles to find an American audience for his work, and to reach his personal goal of spiritual self-realization.

Purchase the book here.

Meanwhile, check out these rave reviews:

“The best book ever written about my father.”  —Tony Miller

“The Unknown Henry Miller is a fascinating book, filled with insight and revelations. If you are passionate about Miller’s work, this book will deepen your understanding. And if you aren’t very familiar with Miller’s life and writings, Hoyle will make you want to rush to read him now.” —Will Schwalbe, author of the New York Times bestseller The End of Your Life Book Club

“The Unknown Henry Miller is a must read for those who thought they knew–and those who know nothing–about the shocking Tropic of Cancer genius who pushed the censorial envelope to make readers think about what is obscenity and why. Arthur Hoyle has expertly penetrated the Miller myth to analyze his prodigious body of work and the underpinnings of Miller’s attitudes toward women, beginning with his ruinous mother.” —Myra MacPherson author of the award winning All Governments Lie and The Scarlet Sisters: Sex Suffrage and Scandal in the Gilded Age. 

“An excellent introduction to Henry Miller, the great liberator. He knew that one has to go through the body to find the soul.” —Erica Jong.

“Arthur Hoyle has delivered on his promise to reveal the ‘unknown’ Henry Miller. On every page there is unexpected data, nuggets of facts unearthed by his deep and extensive research (especially about Miller’s time here in Big Sur), wonderful new insights, or familiar insights freshly-turned.  Above all, this is a smart biography. Written with a passionate drive, ‘The Unknown Henry Miller’ is a page-turner, and I look forward to the discussions and commentary that are sure to follow.” —Magnus Torén, Executive Director, Henry Miller Memorial Library Inc.