Henry Miller's unfond memories of NYC

Posted by Mark Frauenfelder, June 9, 2008 10:55 AM | permalink

Great video of Henry Miller talking about his miserable years in New York. (NSFW language)

From Save vs. Death:

I could listen to Miller talk all day. The mold was long broken at the shop where they made erudite and eloquent old pervs like him. Writing used to be a scholarly manly art, but is now reserved for disposable milquetoast bores and effete vacuous chumps whose bathrooms hold no ephemera from a long vanished world. Men like Miller have forceful opinions and fifth and final wives.

The link has another video of Miller giving a tour of his bathroom, which has walls covered with art and photos. Link

Favorite this! ( 11 )

Older Nesting box for birds made to look like a skull

Newer Box of 3 play wigs for kids

Discussion

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#1 posted by Landowner , June 9, 2008 11:20 AM

Old New York City is a friendly old town,
From Washington Heights to Harlem on down.
There's a-mighty many people all millin' all around,
They'll kick you when you're up and knock you when you're down.

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#2 posted by Nora Rocket

, June 9, 2008 11:26 AM

I am reminded of the Dan Bern song..."Marilyn Monroe didn't marry Henry Miller...but if she did he'd've taken her to Paris; and if she did she'd have smoked a lot of opium...and if she did, yeah, she might have died anyway; but if she did she'd've had more fun."

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#3 posted by schillervision , June 9, 2008 11:42 AM

I was thrilled to see Henry on Boing Boing- I shot this 36 years ago as my first documentary ("Henry Miller Asleep & Awake") and it's interesting to note that his raspy impressions of living in NYC still ring true. Thanks, Tom Schiller

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#4 posted by Kevitivity

, June 9, 2008 11:45 AM

Looks like he's on a movie set here.

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#5 posted by Brett Burton , June 9, 2008 12:20 PM

That's not New York! Look how interesting and pretty the street and buildings look. New York is way uglier than that.

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#6 posted by mack , June 9, 2008 1:05 PM

Yeah, that's Fox's back lot on Pico in Los Angeles, by the looks of it.

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#7 posted by EH , June 9, 2008 1:17 PM

Love the floods!

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#8 posted by rrsafety , June 9, 2008 1:44 PM

I was just going to write the same thing... looks like a movie set of NY...

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#9 posted by Jack

, June 9, 2008 5:22 PM

I'm pretty sure Mack is right; looks like a studio's "New York" set more than anything.

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#10 posted by Digital Artz , June 9, 2008 6:19 PM

He sounds like my art dealer errrr, Galerist.
Those that whine the most........& etc.

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#11 posted by buddy66 , June 9, 2008 6:55 PM

I can't believe it! One of the universally acclaimed giants of 20th century literature, and you guys talk about whether it was filmed on the back lot. Philistines! Just for that I won't tell you about playing ping pong and talking dirty with him at Big Sur.

Nyah, nyah, nyah.

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#12 posted by Chevan , June 9, 2008 7:10 PM

The streets are completely devoid of any sign of life or trash of any kind; of course it's a set.

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#13 posted by elNico , June 10, 2008 4:44 AM

Shopped! Viral! Fake!

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#14 posted by Guesstimate Jones , June 10, 2008 8:41 AM

Nice...one of my favorite writers, and, until now, I had never seen any footage of him...thank you!

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#15 posted by brandonc , June 15, 2008 1:02 PM

I agree with #14... Thank you BB for showing me Henry Miller! He is one of my favorite writers as well, and strangely I hadn't thought to look for video of him. Looking forward to hearing more of that raspy Brooklyn accent!