The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder - Softcover

Miller, Henry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0811205568 ISBN 13: 9780811205566

Publisher: New Directions, 1974

Synopsis

Henry Miller called The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder his “most singular story.” 

First published in 1959, this touching fable tells of Auguste, a famous clown who could make people laugh but who sought to impart to his audiences a lasting joy. Originally inspired by a series of circus and clown drawings by the cubist painter Femand Léger, Miller eventually used his own decorations to accompany the text in their stead. “Undoubtedly," he says in his explanatory epilogue, °‘it is the strangest story I have yet written. . . . No, more even than all the stories which I based on fact and experience is this one the truth. My whole aim in writing has been to tell the truth, as I know it. Heretofore all my characters have been real, taken from life, my own life. Auguste is unique in that he came from the blue. But what is this blue which surrounds and envelopes us if not reality itself? . . . We have only to open our eyes and hearts, to become one with that which is."

About this title

From the Back Cover:

First published in 1959, this touching fable tells of Auguste, a famous clown who could make people laugh but who sought to impact to his audiences a lasting joy. Originally inspired by a series of circus and clown drawings by the cubist painter Fernand Leger, Miller eventually used his own decorations to accompany the text in their stead.

About the Author:

Henry Miller (1891―1980) was one of the most controversial American novelists during his lifetime. His book, The Tropic of Cancer, was banned in the some U.S. states before being overruled by the Supreme Court. New Directions publishes several of his books.

About this edition

• Publisher: New Directions
• Publication date: 1974
• ISBN 10: 0811205568
• ISBN 13: 9780811205566
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 56