Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American writer. He was known for breaking with existing literary forms, developing a new sort of semi-
autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical reflection, explicit language, sex,
surrealist free association and
mysticism. His most characteristic works of this kind are
Tropic of Cancer (1934),
Black Spring (1936),
Tropic of Capricorn (1939) and
The Rosy Crucifixion trilogy (1949–59), all of which are based on his experiences in
New York and
Paris, and all of which were banned in the United States until 1961. He also wrote travel memoirs and literary criticism, and painted watercolors.