Rating: 
Summary: Sells the Idea of Reading Effectively
Review: As a bibliophile I like to read books that remind me of the value of reading. It reinforces what I already believe. This is representative of that genre. In talking about the books in his personal library, Miller mentions that his habit was to mark extensively in the margins of the books he likes. That's a habit I possess too and find it to enrich my reading experience by reinforcing key ideas, and providing a source of reference when I go back to that book later. He equates reading well to writing effectively and sees both as part of the same creative process in a sense. Miller sees the Creator as being the source of good ideas whether communicated through a writer's pen or through the thoughts of a perceptive reader. He says the best readers are writers. In terms of content selection, he notes, "The good reader will gravitate to the good books." Consider what he says about the process of reading when he writes, "Is it not strange to understand and enjoy what is incommunicable? Man is not communicating with man through words, he is communicating with his fellow man and with his Maker." However, as a Christian, I cannot accept Miller's theology because elsewhere in the book he writes, "Long before I had accepted Jesus Christ, I had embraced Lao-tse and Gautama the Buddha." I do agree with him on the value of reading,however. He celebrates other readers and presents them as people of action. He says reading adds a dimension to life that would not be there otherwise, a depth of understanding that is acquired only when that portion of the brain is exercised properly. While I strongly oppose his religious stance, I agree with his advocacy of reading. It is with that qualification that I recommend this book. Read it and enjoy it, but disregard the attacts on the Christian faith.
Rating: 
Summary: A brilliant idea & a literary gem!
Review: Have you ever wanted to sit down with one of your favorite authors and gab about books? While most of us can't do this, fans of Henry Miller do have this innovative work as a substitute. In it, Miller lists his favorite authors & books, then expounds on various authors, subjects & points in his reading life. Blaise Cendrars, Jean Giono, Krishnamurti, reading while in the john & more get their own chapters. Miller wanted to write more editions, including a list of over 50,000 titles he has read, but never got the chance to do so. That's okay. I'm very grateful for having this work available!
Rating:
Summary: Surprise! It's a decent book, actually
Review: Having returned to Miller after a long hiatus, I've found him significantly less impressive than in my youth; especially that concerns his essays. Nevertheless, he still is kind of grabbing; even though he very frequently irritates; somewhat paradoxically, I keep reading. "The Books in My Life" I've found fairly good, interesting -- especially the first half of the book. The second becomes rambling and disconnected; also, the size of essays there grows markedly: in fact, I couldn't stomach it and simply thumbed through, reading a couple of pages here and there. But the first part (almost exactly a half) I did find interesting, partly because of the insight it gives into his own psyche and biographical material, partly due to his coverage of writers I simply didn't know before (Blaise Cendrars, for example; I will probably read something by him and others Miller mentions.) To Miller fans with a taste for his essays, recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Literary nurturing of a genius
Review: Henry Miller may be the greatest American writer of the Twentieth Century. But there is always the question of who bore influence the genius. How many of us want to learn about the work that shaped the mind of the genius writer. Well, to find out, read this book. It will give you a great feel for where Miller was coming from. It touches on Millers entire reading career. You come away with an idea of how this literary genius came to develop and grow. This book is a phenomenal resource for anyone interested in literature and occult and religious writing. I have used this book as a remarkable resource for my own personal literary education. I have spent many hours in bookstores all over America looking for titles that Mr. Miller recommended in this book. I discovered Jean Giono and Blaise Cendrars and Madame Helena Blavatsky through this book. I also learned to put aside literary snobbism and enjoy the boy books by writers like H. Rider Haggard and G.K. Chesterton. Through Miller, I learned about obscure writers like Marie Corelli and John Cowper Powys. I read adventure books like The Unveiling of Timbuctoo. This book is a primer for anyone interested in literature of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. I would recommend this book for dedicated Millerites and literary-minded persons of all persuasions. Miller gave the world a wonderful gift in this book. If you are interested in literature then buy this book and begin the search for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: My Dinner With Henry
Review: Henry Miller's credo seems to be "you are what you read." In 1950 the author of the infamous Tropic books, TROPIC OF CANCER and TROPIC OF CAPRICORN, set out to explicate his life in terms of the books that influenced him. THE BOOKS IN MY LIFE lunges about, talking about his influences, the writers he championed and his many prejudices (forget Shakespeare and formal education). It's a bit like the film "My Dinner With Andre," which succeeds as long as you think the conversation is brilliant and not overly egocentric. Miller thinks it is brilliant. To be honest, I spent a lot of time asking myself, Why am I reading this? Why did I think it was a good idea? Why am I reading about someone else reading and not reading for myself and forming my own opinions? I do have a curiosity about what is on others' shelves and lists, I'm always looking for a new door to open and for good conversation, I agree that reading matters and Miller does respond to those impulses. I did get barrels of conversation, there were some brilliant points and his self absorption can be amusing. However, I did not learn anything that made me want to read Miller's fiction or learn more about his life. I was familiar with many of the works he championed but was not sufficiently convinced to run out and try those with which I was not. Part of my struggle lies in the fact that the print is small and my eyes are over 40. Interestingly, this edition carries a preface by Miller that observes that the original edition had very small print and this was better! I have to wonder if the text is actually a reprint of the first edition, what with some uncorrected typos and misspellings in places and that tiny print which turned a 316 page book into something that felt closer to 450 pages. In some respects, Miller is more open minded than many of his peers, especially about the world's religions, but his language is saturated in the masculine imperative.
Rating:
Summary: Some Great Thoughts on Life and Lit.
Review: I find some of Henry Miller's books to be wonderful and some to be mediocre or downright boring ("Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch," for instance). This book, however, certainly ranks among the wonderful. Any bibliophile or Henry Miller fan (as I am) will find here a treasure of insight relating to books and Henry Miller and other important things. All of Miller's books are essentially about himself and his experience of life, and this one is no exception. As he states in the preface: "The purpose of this book...is to round out the story of my life. It deals with books as a vital experience." Miller seeks to revive the meaning of books which inspired him and his development as a writer. He goes back to his childhood and talks about his experiences with the Greek plays, "Robinson Crusoe," Rider Haggard, G.A. Henty, and to his youth and Paris years with his reading of Nietzsche, Doestoievsky, Whitman, Balzac, Celine, Cendrars, Rimbaud, Rabelais and others. He dedicates a chapter each to his two French contemporaries, Cendrars and Giono. Blaise Cendrars (born Frederic Sauser) is one of his great literary heros, a man who wrote tons of books of virile autobiographical prose (and poetry, unlike Miller) but seems still rather unknown. Jean Giono lived his whole life in the French provinces, was a pacifist, and wrote on themes concerning nature and humanity. Like Miller, he was only concerned with "la gloire d'etre vivant". Two other chapters are dedicated to Krishnamurti and Rider Haggard. The chapter on Krishnamurti reveals somewhat Miller's penchant towards the mystical and themes of emancipation and liberation. In the chapter on Rider Haggard Miller expresses the enthusiam and wonder he felt reading Haggard's mystical tale "She" as a boy. He then goes on to "speak of certain revelations concerning my own character and identity which are connected to it." Here Miller questions himself, "why the emphasis, in my works, on crude repetitious experience of life?" and associates Haggard's fictional heroine, Ayesha, with Miller's first wife and inspiration, June: "How very much there was of 'She' in 'Her'...Why, do we not sometimes ask ourselves, why the fatidical beauty in the great heroines of love throughout the ages? Why do they seem so logically and naturally surrounded by death, bolstered by crime, nourished by evil?". Miller also has much to say on philosophy, art, education, and simply on "how to read and why," to use the title of one of literary critic Harold Bloom's books. On at least one important point, though I suspect on very many points (including the whole idea of Bloom's "The Western Canon"), Miller would take issue with Bloom and his type; he writes: "And this leads me to say how woefully mistaken are those who believe that certain books, because they are universally acknowledged as 'masterpieces,' are the books which alone have power to inspire and nourish us. Every lover of books can name dozens of titles which, because they unlock his soul, because they open his eyes to reality, are for him the golden books. It matters not what evaluation is made of these by scholars and critics, by pundits and authorities: for the man who is touched to the quick by them they are supreme. We do not ask of one who opens our eyes by what authority he acts; we do not demand his credentials." Miller would certainly agree with Oscar Wilde's witty remark: "Oh, it is absurd to have a hard and fast rule about what one should read and what one shouldn't. More than half of modern culture depends on what one shouldn't read."
Rating:
Summary: Some Great Thoughts on Life and Lit.
Review: I find some of Henry Miller's books to be wonderful and some to be mediocre or downright boring ("Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch," for instance). This book, however, certainly ranks among the wonderful. Any bibliophile or Henry Miller fan (as I am) will find here a treasure of insight relating to books and Henry Miller and other important things. All of Miller's books are essentially about himself and his experience of life, and this one is no exception. As he states in the preface: "The purpose of this book...is to round out the story of my life. It deals with books as a vital experience." Miller seeks to revive the meaning of books which inspired him and his development as a writer. He goes back to his childhood and talks about his experiences with the Greek plays, "Robinson Crusoe," Rider Haggard, G.A. Henty, and to his youth and Paris years with his reading of Nietzsche, Doestoievsky, Whitman, Balzac, Celine, Cendrars, Rimbaud, Rabelais and others. He dedicates a chapter each to his two French contemporaries, Cendrars and Giono. Blaise Cendrars (born Frederic Sauser) is one of his great literary heros, a man who wrote tons of books of virile autobiographical prose (and poetry, unlike Miller) but seems still rather unknown. Jean Giono lived his whole life in the French provinces, was a pacifist, and wrote on themes concerning nature and humanity. Like Miller, he was only concerned with "la gloire d'etre vivant". Two other chapters are dedicated to Krishnamurti and Rider Haggard. The chapter on Krishnamurti reveals somewhat Miller's penchant towards the mystical and themes of emancipation and liberation. In the chapter on Rider Haggard Miller expresses the enthusiam and wonder he felt reading Haggard's mystical tale "She" as a boy. He then goes on to "speak of certain revelations concerning my own character and identity which are connected to it." Here Miller questions himself, "why the emphasis, in my works, on crude repetitious experience of life?" and associates Haggard's fictional heroine, Ayesha, with Miller's first wife and inspiration, June: "How very much there was of 'She' in 'Her'...Why, do we not sometimes ask ourselves, why the fatidical beauty in the great heroines of love throughout the ages? Why do they seem so logically and naturally surrounded by death, bolstered by crime, nourished by evil?". Miller also has much to say on philosophy, art, education, and simply on "how to read and why," to use the title of one of literary critic Harold Bloom's books. On at least one important point, though I suspect on very many points (including the whole idea of Bloom's "The Western Canon"), Miller would take issue with Bloom and his type; he writes: "And this leads me to say how woefully mistaken are those who believe that certain books, because they are universally acknowledged as 'masterpieces,' are the books which alone have power to inspire and nourish us. Every lover of books can name dozens of titles which, because they unlock his soul, because they open his eyes to reality, are for him the golden books. It matters not what evaluation is made of these by scholars and critics, by pundits and authorities: for the man who is touched to the quick by them they are supreme. We do not ask of one who opens our eyes by what authority he acts; we do not demand his credentials." Miller would certainly agree with Oscar Wilde's witty remark: "Oh, it is absurd to have a hard and fast rule about what one should read and what one shouldn't. More than half of modern culture depends on what one shouldn't read."
Rating:
Summary: Good Book
Review: I have read a number of Miller's books over the years, and they are all sprinkled throughout with his insights on the arts--literature, music, painting, architecture, etc. He is a very opinionated observer and an eloquent sponsor of those artists who inspire him. I came upon "The Books in My Life" in a little, used bookstore a few years ago and would read at it periodically. I found it useful--sort of like a very-well anotated bibliography--and it led me to read the works of some of those mentioned in his appraisals (eg, Krishnamurti, Hamsun). If you buy into Miller as I do, this book provides good insight into how much of his philosophy was shaped by writers he respected and enjoyed.
Rating:
Summary: Miller's favorites
Review: I have read a number of Miller's books over the years, and they are all sprinkled throughout with his insights on the arts--literature, music, painting, architecture, etc. He is a very opinionated observer and an eloquent sponsor of those artists who inspire him. I came upon "The Books in My Life" in a little, used bookstore a few years ago and would read at it periodically. I found it useful--sort of like a very-well anotated bibliography--and it led me to read the works of some of those mentioned in his appraisals (eg, Krishnamurti, Hamsun). If you buy into Miller as I do, this book provides good insight into how much of his philosophy was shaped by writers he respected and enjoyed.
Rating:
Summary: A book for book lovers
Review: I read this book after not having read Miller for about five years and I was pleasantly surprised. I think that it is better than most of his fictional novels. It really gives you a feel for what shaped his whole outlook on life. And it isn't nearly as vitriolic as the Tropics, rather, it's more of a celebration of his craft. If you are curious about his literary influences (and I was), you will love this book. In fact, after reading it once, I immediatley read it a second time and I was inspired by it to the point where I purchased some of the books he makes mention of. Parts of the book also made me laugh out loud. I highly recommend it.
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