Word: jong
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Henry Miller is controversial in and of himself. Jong aims to get her readers to see beyond that controversy--beyond the charges of racism and sexism and empty pornographic writing. But Erica Jong on Henry Miller (an unfortunate title, at best) only adds fuel to the fire; it fails to provide the cultural context necessary for a re-evaluation of Miller and his meaning to America and American literature. One controversial writer merely joins ranks with another, and neither writer's work is illuminated...
Touted as "part biography, part memoir, part critical study, and part exploration of sexual politics in our time," Erica Jong on Henry Miller is indeed a jumble of attitudes and voices--some sentimental, some pedantic. Jong's original intention in writing the book was to chronicle her friendship with Henry Miller. After the publication of her first novel, Fear of Flying, in 1974, Jong received "an enthusiastic fan letter" from a then 83-year-old Miller; the two began a correspondence that lasted until Miller's death in 1980. Jong sees Miller as "a kindred spirit," and she spends...
...Jong's larger project in Erica Jong on Henry Miller is to explain Miller's importance--and perhaps her own importance, by extension--to American literary history. Jong summarizes her intent at the end of a chapter titled "Why Must We Read Miller? Miller as Sage": "I want to send you back to read him--with an open head and heart." Unfortunately, though she makes some interesting claims (e.g. "Ultimately Miller can be a stronger force for feminism than for male chauvinism."), few heads and hearts will be opened by her critical commentary. Jong quotes a passage from Miller...
Even more irresponsible and annoying is Jong's treatment of the "feminist," a term she almost always follows with "zealot" and applies without distinction to such diverse thinkers as Kate Millett, Germaine Greet and Andrea Dworkin. Jong says that she "respect[s] the courage of those feminists who have come forward to illuminate the nature of pornography against women," but she shows no consciousness of the evolving nature of that illumination and makes no effort to convey the complexity of the American feminist debate on pornography. Complicated theoretical issues are dismissed with reductive summaries: "The pen, as so many feminist...
...anecdotal level, Erica Jong on Henry Miller serves a useful purpose. Read the book if you want to know what the inside of Henry Miller's house looked like, which wife he really liked best, or whether he agreed with Anals Nin's characterization of June Miller in Henry and June. The majority of the letters Jong and Miller wrote back and forth are published in the book, and they are worth reading. Beyond the self-congratulation and mutual admiration, the letters provide insight into the two writers' conceptions of their work and the changing world around them. Also useful...