Big Sur Archive

  • In 1934, Henry Miller, then aged forty-two and living in Paris, published his first book. In 1961, finally distributed in his native land the book promptly became a best-seller and a cause célèbre. By now, the "controversies" dominate his legacy, including issues of censorship, obscenity, misogyny and anti-Semitism, clouding the import of Henry Miller's words. "Tropic of Cancer" broke literary ground, mixing novelistic forms with autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, and surrealist free association.

    Henry Miller’s Free Association into the Surreal

    Posted on May 19, 2013 | 2 Comments
    In 1934, Henry Miller, then aged forty-two and living in Paris, published his first book. In 1961, finally distributed in his native land the book promptly became a best-seller and a cause célèbre. By now, the "controversies" dominate his legacy, including issues of censorship, obscenity, misogyny and anti-Semitism, clouding the import of Henry Miller's words. "Tropic of Cancer" broke literary ground, mixing novelistic forms with autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, and surrealist free association.

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  • John Adams' "The Dharma at Big Sur," composed for the opening of LA's Disney Hall, references Jack Kerouac's evocation of the first of Buddha's Four Noble Truths in microtones, celebrating the freedom of the California coast at Big Sur.

    Adams on Kerouac: The Buddha’s First Noble Truth Unveiled at Big Sur

    Posted on August 11, 2012 | 1 Comment
    John Adams' "The Dharma at Big Sur," composed for the opening of LA's Disney Hall, references Jack Kerouac's evocation of the first of Buddha's Four Noble Truths in microtones, celebrating the freedom of the California coast at Big Sur.

    Continue Reading...