The kernel of Miller's view on life. Essays on writers, money, spirituality or whatever Miller deems worthy- some stupendous, some tedious. It's short and mostly worth the time invested. If passion is your thing, maybe Henry is your guy.

The closest thing to a Bible I've ever owned, my copy is dog-eared, stained and well traveled. Miller's genius lies in his philosophies, not in his prose - he's an ideas man, and here his ideas are perhaps at their most focused. It is this text that I turn to when I need to be reminded that life is to be enjoyed, even when it does not happen on my terms.

complex and confident

Was disappointed by this collection despite a few of the essays being fantastic I ended up skipping more than I read. The longest essay, concerning money, was exceptionally dated and inaccurate and too many of the others repeated Mr Miller's basic philosophy - live for oneself. I suspect that my watching Henry & June did not help my mood.

I was also frustrated by the lack of dating for most of the essays.

This book clobbered me when I first read it at age 23, and rereading it at age 36, its most powerful passages, probing questions, and lucid insights still resonated deeply. I've read more of Miller's work since then, however, and I know how his inspired stretches coax one through the more interminable bits, which often comprise too much of it. Then and now, "Money and How It Gets That Way" is grating and unfunny, at least 20 pages too long. On the other hand, "Children of the Earth", "Open Sesame!", "Walt Whitman", "Lime Twigs and Treachery", and the title piece astonished me again. On the grand scale, for me, reading Miller is worth it, and I'll seek out more of his books I haven't read.

I'm grateful to have found my own copy of Hummingbird at Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans, and thank my old friend and roommate Derek for lending me his copy one Chicago winter.

El libro se resume en la introspección del autor sobre temas espirituales, metafísicos y artísticos. Quien desee entender a la persona detrás de sus polémicos escritos tendrá más que suficiente en esta obra personal, dedicada a entender cómo funciona la mente humana desde diversas corrientes. Comentario esencial: ¿será demasiado tarde para ejecutar ese sueño llamado 'la hora del hombre'?

henry miller is so fucking smart it makes me want to give up.

Great collection of essays and letters. I found this much more engaging than his fiction.

We were at a wedding at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur last weekend, and couldn't resist getting a book. This is a series of essays collected out of chronological order, but loosely by theme. The first two are fantastic ruminations on no less a topic than the meaning of life - perfect for summer!

I have mixed feelings with this book. I guess it can be explained by the fact that these essays we're written in different moments of Miller's life. Some are simple, enlightened, genius. A pleasure to read. Others not so much. Derailing into arrogance: ”the writers of short stories, as a rule, do not go about their work joyously”. It really surprises me that this line is written by the same person who says ”The mind can only toy with what food or substance is presented to it; it can never know in any ultimate, absolute sense.”

You have released yourself from your ego, or you haven’t. You not only need to be humble in the way you speak, but in the way you think too. I appreciate reading Miller’s opinions but his lack of self restraint when giving certain statements really bothered me while reading this book.

I really enjoyed his way of coming back to nature in almost every topic. How he can talk about the elements when talking about literature, education, politics and philosophy.

A highly enjoyable selection of essays, book reviews, forewords, satire, and Henry Miller just writing. It is not nearly as preoccupied with sex as his novels, and allows us to see different sides of him, including some very powerful statements about humanism, art, society, and other problems. His appreciation of Thoreau is wonderful, although it follows his brief essay about Whitman in which he uses the same distinctive quotation from D.H. Lawrence, which makes for a jarring repetition. Minor quibbles notwithstanding this is a fine batch of writing

amazing collection of essays
he was sort of a narcissistic douche, but still also sort of a genius at times.