The good news is, now Henry has all sorts of material to write about. She was worth spending the money Henry's wife had sent him. Germaine stands out as a fine example among prostitutes-a crowded playing field if there ever was one. But they loan him money, so yeah, it's all good.īetween anecdotes, there are long philosophical reflections about death, disease, the future, and what a capitalist pig-worshipping disaster America is. Henry proceeds to recall a bounty of other prostitutes he's had sex with and provides the reader with some amusing anecdotes about his friends who are 'cunt-struck' (1.14) and can't write to save their lives.

(We have to 'aw' here because there aren't that many opportunities.) We learn that Mona hasn't been around for a long time, but that it was love at first sight for those two. But because Mona was his wife, he saves a little place for her in his heart. He recalls Mona, who sounds like she's the only woman he has ever loved, although he clearly has a thing for Tania as well. He has sex with all manner of women, most of whom remain nameless and pretty much faceless. Besides finding a roof to put over his head, he's basically just interested in writing and having sex with prostitutes, which is weird because he's broke. Tropic of Cancer opens with Henry living at the Villa Borghese with Boris, his louse-ridden but generous friend.

A plot summary of this novel is no simple task, but here's our stab at it: The novel-or song-tells the story of roughly one year of Miller's life in Paris (and, briefly, Dijon) as he struggles to come to terms with himself as a writer. He calls it a 'song,' which it pretty much is-a song straight from his twisted psyche that hasn't quite been through the production phase. He's definitely not about to present a clear, chronological novel. Miller announces from the beginning of the novel that he is not writing a book 'in the ordinary sense of the word' (1.6), and we would advise you to take him seriously.

Tropic of cancer by henry miller