Henry Miller: A Life

Rating:
Summary: Not a breakthrough, but OK.
Review: I agree with the previous reviewer that it's a balanced biography. I liked the book; anyone interested in Miller and his work would surely enjoy it. I didn't give it five stars because this book is based nearly exclusively on Miller's own writings, so if you've read all his oeuvre, you probably already know all that Ferguson says -- including a healthy degree of scepticism about the overall veracity of Henry's "autobiographical" novels. That, I think, is a flaw; I would prefer more information from independent sources -- something you somehow expect from a biography. Very little of such stuff here. But overall it's a well presented, solid investigation performed by an affectionate, yet objective researcher. Of course, you do need to have read Miller himself first, but that, sort of, goes without saying. To Miller fans -- recommended.

Rating:
Summary: The best objective Henry Miller bigraphy out there!
Review: Robert Ferguson has written a spectacular biography on legendary writer Henry Miller. Ferguson, unlike other Miller biographers (such as Mary Dearborne, Alfred Perles), relates the details of Miller's life & works without personal bias or an angle. Although a very tough task, Ferguson is able to distinguish reality as it happened from reality as reported by Henry Miller (which at times is filled with bald-faced lies, such as claiming to have met Emma Goldman although she was not allowed in the city when Miller claims to have met her) most of the time. While some fans of Miller will not like the work because it "spoils the mystique of a legend", others will, I'm sure, agree that this is a thorough, fair and accurate biography about a man who tried very hard to erase the tracks he made in life with all new marks created by semi-autobiographical romances. And dang good ones at that!