The Air-Conditioned Nightmare

Rating:
Summary: Short on kindling?
Review: I happened to come across this book the day before I headed out on a road trip of my own. I, like the author was headed across this great nation. I understand disgust at strip malls, track housing, neighborhood associations, fast food billboards, makeup counters at christmastime, etc. So I picked up the book, figuring I would find someone whom I could relate with on my trip. There is one thing I didn't count on though, that as much as hyper-capitalism makes me sick, hyper-pretensiousness is not a whole lot better. Henry Miller drove me crazier with his vague esoteric consciously-artistic language than any flashing neon McDonald's sign could. About three-fourths of my way through the book I happened to be camping in the desert, was short on kindling and tossed in the book without a moment's hesitation. I may not want a nation run by soulless corporations, but I sure don't want one guided by the likes of Henry and his band of pessimistic, puffed-up, "super-artisans" either.

jim

Rating:
Summary: Short on kindling?
Review: I happened to come across this book the day before I headed out on a road trip of my own. I, like the author was headed across this great nation. I understand disgust at strip malls, track housing, neighborhood associations, fast food billboards, makeup counters at christmastime, etc. So I picked up the book, figuring I would find someone whom I could relate with on my trip. There is one thing I didn't count on though, that as much as hyper-capitalism makes me sick, hyper-pretensiousness is not a whole lot better. Henry Miller drove me crazier with his vague esoteric consciously-artistic language than any flashing neon McDonald's sign could. About three-fourths of my way through the book I happened to be camping in the desert, was short on kindling and tossed in the book without a moment's hesitation. I may not want a nation run by soulless corporations, but I sure don't want one guided by the likes of Henry and his band of pessimistic, puffed-up, "super-artisans" either.

jim

Rating:
Summary: Travels with Henry Miller around the United States
Review: In "The Air-Conditioned Nightmare", Henry Miller writes about an automobile trip he made through the United States in the 1950's. His encounters with colorful characters, and his hilarious and insightful descriptions of the towns he passes through make this a "must read" for Miller fans. His criticisms of the banality and shallowness of American life he observed then still hit the mark. His favorite region was the South, which, as a Southener, I appreciate, and so this part of the book was especially interesting to me. Compared with Jack Kerouac's "On the Road", which was written at about the same time, this is a more cynical and negative view of America, but is saved from being merely depressing by Miller's wonderfully savage sense of humor and his ultimately forgiving human heart

Rating:
Summary: Fragments of Brilliance
Review: In some ways, Air Conditioned Nightmare is one of Henry Miller's most accessible books. It can be consumed, processed, and enjoyed by readers who are not, per say, Miller fans, as the themes are somewhat broader than his usual subject matter of himself and his friends.

This is a great book to introduce newcomers to Miller's work. It also is a fascinating portrait of America at a point in time and from a certain perspective. Especially given the modern habit of romanticizing the WW2 era, Air Conditioned Nightmare gives an alternative, cynical view that remains insightful today.

What holds me back from giving the book five stars is that it falls victim particularly harshly to Miller's characteristic laziness. His favorite trope of gushing over some new friend of his for a chapter or two unfortunately dominates the book, and he rambles off on some very dull tangents about things like car trouble.

Nonetheless, there's plenty of Miller's brilliant diatribes and observations, which make it quite worth the while to plough through the hubris.

Rating:
Summary: Miller: Beyond the Yeast Coast
Review: Miller's observations of the American scene in "The Air-Conditioned Nightmare," are, as in his earlier works, dead on. But his travels take him beyond the Yeast Coast to the Grand Canyon, where he shares his unique appreciation of things uniquely appreciable about North America. Also has a great vignette on auto mechanics circa 1940.

Rating:
Summary: Miller: Beyond the Yeast Coast
Review: Miller's observations of the American scene in "The Air-Conditioned Nightmare," are, as in his earlier works, dead on. But his travels take him beyond the Yeast Coast to the Grand Canyon, where he shares his unique appreciation of things uniquely appreciable about North America. Also has a great vignette on auto mechanics circa 1940.

Rating:
Summary: Miller: Beyond the Yeast Coast
Review: Miller's observations of the American scene in "The Air-Conditioned Nightmare," are, as in his earlier works, dead on. But his travels take him beyond the Yeast Coast to the Grand Canyon, where he shares his unique appreciation of things uniquely appreciable about North America. Also has a great vignette on auto mechanics circa 1940.

Rating:
Summary: Still true!
Review: Miller's observations of the USA are still true 60 years later. The contrast is between the man-made horrors and some of the wonderful artists Miller found in out of the way places. My favorite chapter is the story about Weeks Hall's mansion "Shadows" at Bayou Teche, Louisiana -- it inspired me to visit the place, which was still as mysterioso as Miller had described it.

Rating:
Summary: A Convincing Rouser From A Talented Writer.
Review: These set of essays fit more like social diatribes with travel as a platform to announce them from.Miller relates the decay of the social core in American lifestyle,a way of life which he would gladly secede for the completely human natural way of living.Although his statements are mostly convincing,an objective & critical mind would notice the few slips of his zealous & antagonistic approach where one could suspect that if he did not miss the point of the topic that he assails on,he misses it as a whole.One can sense the innocent exuberance of his dreams & derisions,like a child wishing for his toy or an adult barring a door to the problems he wants to completely forget forever.The style of his writing is vigorous,lively with occasional flashes of grin compelling wit,highlighted at times by paragraph climaxes which round up all the previous sentences to a slap driving whole.Though lacking the spine-cracking,life-altering appeal of Bukowski and the inimitable brilliance of Celine,his adamnant and at times raging missives rarely fail to convince.The work as a whole could have been better if it would have stayed true to the gist of its inception:A Travelogue.But the incongruence hardly affects the work at all,& this has got to be one of Miller's finest moments.