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Black Spring: The Angel Is My Watermark! by Henry Miller





"The object of these pages is to relate the genesis of a master-
piece. The masterpiece is hanging on the wall in front of me;
it is dry now. I am putting this down to remember the process,
because I shall probably never do another like it."


Above: Excerpt from Black Spring by Henry Miller.  This copy was published by Grove Press in 1963.

























Above: Excerpt from Black Spring by Henry Miller.  This copy was published by Grove Press in 1963.

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Bird Monk Party said…
Thanks for posting this. As always it is a reminder.
August 7, 2011 at 4:38 PM
brian edmonds said…
Man I use to love me some Miller. My favorite was, i think, Quiet Days in Clichy. I read Capricorn and Cancer but Clichy was my favorite for some reason. Bukowski and Celine were favorites at the time. Have you read Celine?
August 7, 2011 at 6:34 PM
Paul Behnke said…
@BMP: Yes, I agree.

@ Brian: I read almost everything by Miller some years ago and am just now re-reading Black Spring (one of my favorites). Have you read the Rosy Crucifixion Series? In it Miller revisits the Capricorn/ Cancer times through the eyes of an older man. A somewhat different perspective. I also liked Air Conditioned Nightmare.

I've never read Celine. Can you suggest a good introduction?

Thanks to you both for looking.
August 7, 2011 at 7:38 PM
brian edmonds said…
Celine wrote many books but the two I could recommend are Death on the Installment Plan and Journey to the End of the Night. I read Night first and then Journey. Celine's writing style is kind of odd and takes a little getting use to but blew me away in my mid 20's. They are full of craziness and vulgarities but are poetic none the less. Bukowski counted him as a huge influence. Although his books, from what I can remember, had no anti-Semitic tones he apparently wrote anti-Semitic pamphlets. I didn't know this at the time and probably wouldn't have picked up on it at the time.
August 8, 2011 at 2:11 PM
brian edmonds said…
Meant to also reply that I had a copy of Coloss. and I think Nightmare but can't be to sure of it. I will have to check it out. Thanks for the suggestion. Rosy had a De Kooning painting on the cover, right?
August 8, 2011 at 2:13 PM
Paul Behnke said…
Thanks for the Celine suggestions. I will check them out.
Yes, One of DeKooning's Women I think.
August 8, 2011 at 2:26 PM
Gary said…
I started reading Black Spring recently after finishing Anais Nin's Incest diary. Henry was writing some of this stuff during the period covered by Nin's diary. I love The Angel is my Watermark, since it is mine as well.

Ola Thumb
October 4, 2011 at 8:06 AM
Paul Behnke said…
Thanks for reading Gary.
Black Spring is maybe my favorite Miller book!
October 4, 2011 at 12:56 PM
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