Henry Miller was much more than a writer; he was an artist and a philosopher. The book is a collection of essays from which majority contains Miller’s vision or philosophy of life. It is known that he was under the influence of Tao; so if you are are close to Zen, these essays could broaden your views. If you are not familar with the Eastern teachings, read the book to learn about those.

The book is filled with hundreds, if not much more, of Miller striking thoughts. He insists that life itself is the biggest miracles of all. Also breathing is. Why we search for more, which usually ruins us? Yes we can become faster, but before we preoccupy ourselves with speed, shouldn’t we ask ourselves if we could “stand still like the hummingbird”?

Just read this book, it definitely stands as one the unique visionary masterpices of 20th century.

Awesome book, the depth and clarity of some of his stories makes it worth it to power through the longer drier technical jargon of others.

i return to this book time & again. i never liked Miller's fiction, but his essays are brilliant. especially the one on Money.

“¿Para qué sirven los libros, si no nos devuelven a la vida, si no nos hacen beber o vida con mayor avidez?”

Definitivamente Miller es de esos autores a los que uno no puede dejar de recurrir, un alimento mental y espiritual en forma de libro. Leerlo siempre es un viaje hacia el fondo de uno mismo. Un autor que sabe contar y hablar sobre lo cotidiano sin perder la oportunidad para reflexionar profundamente. Henry, golpea, ensambla y vuelve a desarmar.

Este libro recopila 22 ensayos sobre diversidad de temas como: la inmortalidad, ser nacionalista, la moralidad, el surrealismo, el sentido de la vida, etc. Escritos a lo largo 25 años, demuestra que aunque cambiemos de piel, nunca se pierde la identidad, la raíz, la esencia.

“Lo que quiero decir, brevemente, es que un libro, como cualquier otra cosa, sirve con frecuencia de pretexto para lo que de verdad buscamos.”

one of my favorite collections of essays.

I picked up Miller after having read Nin and discovering that they had a rather passionate literary and romantic relationship. From his writing, I imagine Miller with a swagger, with a smart-ass personality. Again, this is another book I packed with me from the States, and it's still sitting on my shelf. Maybe I feel guilty that I wasn't able to get into it. Will try again soon.

Oooooooh, just can't wait!

Henry Miller on Thoreau: “He lost nothing by not mingling with the crowd, by not devouring the newspapers, by not enjoying the radio or the movies, by not having an automobile, a refrigerator, or a vacuum cleaner. He actually enriched himself in a way far beyond the ability of the man of today who is glided with these dubious comforts inconveniences.”

In this collection Henry Miller reviews authors,art, and his world view as well as a few less specific works. Not my favorite Miller but any Miller is good reads!

This book contains a number of Henry Miller's short writings and essays; they are some of his most accessible and affecting works, and this book was a gateway for me to his larger volumes. It makes me want to drink whiskey and punch the moon out of the sky, and laugh as the tidal waves sweep away all evidence of the constructs of man and his society.
On a side note, there's a handful of lines from these essays that have been paraphrased (and nearly lifted verbatim) by Jeff Tweedy from Wilco.

Better than what I expected. A lot of these essays are just the ramblings of another beatnik who just can't live unless the rest of the world knows how much of a brooding nonconformist he is. But there are a few really good essays in here that make it worth reading, particularly the title essay.

I hate to give Miller anything less than five stars, but despite the brilliant prose, the late-in-life Miller, after finding god/"the creator," interests me a lot less. I confess I could not abide the very long chapter on the history of currency, and gave up on it.