3. Tropic Of Cancer - Henry Miller
Written by Miller when we was a down and out writer in Paris in the late 20s and early 30s, Tropic of Cancer is a bona fide genuine erotic classic. It is written in first person and combines fiction and reality with a whole procession of real life characters. Some chapters tell a story. Some chapters are stream of consciousness ramblings in which Miller occasionally gains epiphanies. Miller describes his life as a struggling author living in Paris among a bohemian community. There are many explicit sexual encounters in the book. Tropic of Cancer caused an absolute stink of a scandal when it went to publication. It was the centre of an important obscenity trial in America and it also faced bans and prosecution in Canada - where mounties seized illegal copies - and also in the UK where a ban on the book was considered by the DPP. However revered poet T S Eliot was going to spring to the book's defence so the DPP didn't want to appear stupid for once in their lives. I really enjoyed Tropic of Cancer because of Miller's continual inventiveness - his prose (despite being stream of conscious in many parts) flows beautifully and the book is wry and amusing. Tropic of Cancer has been given high accolades by literary giants, such as H L Mencken who called it 'an excellent piece of work'. George Orwell dissolved into ecstasy over the book and called Miller 'a writer out of the ordinary'. Even the Great Man of Irish Literature - Samuel Beckett called the book 'a momentous event in the history of modern writing'. Age has been remarkably kind to Miller's book which is very accessible. So if you are seeking some erotic literature which is well written and endorsed by literary giants, try Tropic of Cancer, you won't regret it.