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173:(which would ultimately be published by Colt Press in 1941), had been rejected by more than 10 publishers, severely disappointing Miller. His agent reminded him of his plan to travel around the U.S. and record his impressions, predicting that publishers would be eager for a book on an expatriate's return to his own land. Despite the fact that he had been writing autobiographical fiction, the idea of writing a nonfiction book appealed to Miller, especially since writers like
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deemed it "as shallow, snobbish, uninformed, pretentious and monstrously egocentric a book as ever I read in my life," concluding that Miller doesn't know enough about
America to write a book about it. Prescott admits, however, that some of Miller's descriptions are "extremely well done" and that "he
249:
mysterious and appealing. Overall, however, Miller did not form a favorable impression of
America, considering it cruel and sterile. "Nowhere have I encountered such a dull, monotonous fabric of life as here in America," he writes in the book's opening pages. He criticizes America for not valuing its
244:
During the trip, Miller briefly returned to New York several times, including for a month to see his ailing father, who died two hours before Miller's return. After the funeral, he resumed his trip. By the time they reached
Atlanta, Miller wrote, he was getting more disgusted with America every day.
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Miller was born and raised in New York City, and moved to Paris in 1930, at the age of 38. He conceived of a book about traveling across the United States as early as 1935, after returning to Paris from a trip to New York. He wrote to
334:. The collection of essays includes portraits of Miller's friends, assaults on the way of American life, and a long recollection of his years living in France. Miller had initially suggested titling the second volume
303:
Miller was concerned about the reception the book would get, given his negative impression of the US during a time when patriotism was in vogue. Prior to its publication, he told
201:
Miller and
Rattner left from New York in October 1940, driving south towards Florida before heading west. Miller brought along a few of his favorite books, including
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221:. Miller wrote to Nin that he let Rattner do most of the driving, despite the fact that he considered himself the superior driver. They spent a night at
151:, first published in 1945, about his year-long road trip across the United States in 1940, following his return from nearly a decade living in Paris.
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181:(as it was then known) commissioned the book in August 1940, giving Miller a $ 500 advance. He used part of the advance to purchase a 1932
274:, where he completed the yearlong trip. It was rejected by Doubleday at the end of 1941, and Miller abandoned it until the end of
189:, who was then living in New York, to accompany him, but she declined. Instead, he was joined for much of the trip by the painter
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and his wife were also staying. Miller and Dalí did not get along, with Miller describing Dalí as vain. They later stopped in
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in 1945. Many of the book's chapters originally appeared in magazines and anthologies, including
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Doldrums, the alias of
Canadian electronic musician Airick Woodhead, titled his 2015 release
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it was "a wasted year." The book met with a generally poor reception. Reviewing it for the
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Miller started writing the book in
Detroit and wrote most of it in the summer of 1941 in
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released an instrumental song named "The Air-Conditioned
Nightmare" on his 1981 album
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He did enjoy
Charleston and New Orleans, and found Southwestern sites such as the
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In May 1947, Miller assembled a collection of short pieces for volume two of
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about plans for a book that would be "a loaded gun to the head of
America."
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330:, which was published in November 1947 by New Directions under the title
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have a song titled "The Air-Conditioned
Nightmare" on their 1999 album
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to use for his trip across the United States. He originally asked
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creative citizens and for making life miserable for them.
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sedan, similar to the car Miller purchased for the trip.
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can occasionally achieve a certain sardonic power."
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By June 1940, his book on his time spent in Greece,
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The Happiest Man Alive: A Biography of Henry Miller
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The Happiest Man Alive: A Biography of Henry Miller
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The Time of the Assassins: A Study of Rimbaud
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16:1945 memoir of American road trip by Henry Miller
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520:The Unknown Henry Miller: A Seeker in Big Sur
467:The Unknown Henry Miller: A Seeker in Big Sur
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708:Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch
177:had occasionally ventured into nonfiction.
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554:"Doldrums: The Air Conditioned Nightmare,"
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822:New Directions Publishing books
613:Moloch: or, This Gentile World
291:Quarterly Review of Literature
20:The Air-Conditioned Nightmare
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700:The Air-Conditioned Nightmare
487:The Air-Conditioned Nightmare
382:The Air Conditioned Nightmare
328:The Air-Conditioned Nightmare
144:The Air-Conditioned Nightmare
278:, when it was published by
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432:W. W. Norton & Company
125:Sunday After the War
350:British guitarist and ex-
254:Publication and reception
31:First edition cover, 1945
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692:The Colossus of Maroussi
340:The Electrified Rat-Race
170:The Colossus of Maroussi
493:, 1945, copyright page.
227:Bowling Green, Virginia
147:is a memoir written by
812:English-language books
802:1945 non-fiction books
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817:Works by Henry Miller
629:Aller Retour New York
536:"Books of the Times,"
336:The Egg in Its Prison
272:Hollywood, California
261:
779:Quiet Days in Clichy
747:Quiet Days in Clichy
673:Quiet Days in Clichy
653:The Rosy Crucifixion
543:, December 19, 1945.
504:Henry Miller: A Life
428:Henry Miller: A Life
410:, 1991, pp. 22, 123.
408:Simon & Schuster
332:Remember to Remember
297:The Harvard Advocate
237:to visit the writer
235:Jackson, Mississippi
645:Tropic of Capricorn
434:, 1991, pp. 273-75.
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522:, pp. 127, 145-51.
367:The American band
346:In popular culture
285:Town & Country
268:
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471:Arcade Publishing
426:Robert Ferguson,
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89:Publication place
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807:American memoirs
771:Henry & June
755:Tropic of Cancer
621:Tropic of Cancer
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561:, April 9, 2015.
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532:Orville Prescott
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400:Mary V. Dearborn
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315:Orville Prescott
305:Lawrence Durrell
179:Doubleday, Doran
175:Ernest Hemingway
131:Followed by
121:Preceded by
80:Publication date
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473:, 2014, p. 62.
465:Arthur Hoyle,
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280:New Directions
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223:Caresse Crosby
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356:Steve Hackett
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322:Second volume
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231:Salvador Dalí
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225:'s estate in
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162:Hilaire Hiler
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92:United States
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741:Brenda Venus
726:Bibliography
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637:Black Spring
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276:World War II
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247:Grand Canyon
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239:Eudora Welty
219:Walt Whitman
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149:Henry Miller
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41:Henry Miller
782:(1990 film)
774:(1990 film)
766:(1986 book)
758:(1970 film)
750:(1970 film)
731:June Miller
209:Knut Hamsun
796:Categories
502:Ferguson,
452:Dearborn,
388:References
374:California
369:Mr. Bungle
155:Background
63:nonfiction
736:Anaïs Nin
558:Pitchfork
506:, p. 280.
204:Mysteries
187:Anaïs Nin
106:Paperback
102:Hardcover
69:Publisher
664:, 1953;
660:, 1949;
229:, where
47:Language
719:Related
684:Memoirs
668:, 1959)
518:Hoyle,
354:member
352:Genesis
262:A 1932
197:Summary
100:Print (
50:English
711:(1957)
703:(1945)
695:(1941)
676:(1956)
662:Plexus
648:(1939)
640:(1936)
632:(1935)
624:(1934)
616:(1927)
605:Novels
59:Memoir
37:Author
666:Nexus
658:Sexus
361:Cured
264:Buick
183:Buick
113:Pages
55:Genre
294:and
211:and
104:and
84:1945
338:or
217:by
207:by
116:292
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656:(
590:e
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