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Video of the Day: Henry Miller Hating New York

On a brutally hot day like this, it’s not too hard to appreciate this priceless rant from the late author Henry Miller as he tears into “that old shithole New York where I was born… the ugliest, filthiest, shittiest city in the world.” The clip comes to light today thanks to Save Vs. Death (via Boing Boing), and it’s excerpted from Henry Miller Asleep & Awake, a short film made in 1975 by Tom Schiller that takes place almost entirely in Miller’s bathroom.

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  • sonyactivision

    Saratoga Springs: My kinda town!

  • kendobbs

    Henry Miller's soft life has left him bitter and whiney, if he thinks NYC is the shitiest town on North America. I'll tell you what the shitiest town on North America is, it's downtown Saratoga Springs, New York. Ever been there Henry Bunny? I think not.



    I'd rather set my ass hairs on fire than walk down Glen Street. This rat infested hell hole covered in maple syrup draws black flies from as far away as Ontario that will bite your prick off and fly around the town square band shell with it during John Phillip Sousa week



    Women here tattoo their children in utero to make sure they hang with the right biker gang.



    Kids are let out early from school so that they can make their probation drop.



    You got an extended family if anyone in it lives past the age of 32.



    Sincerely kiss my ass, Glen Miller

  • spiritross

    Great man

    Great artist

    Great lost film here



    Such passion with his hate, really quite refreshing to see



    All you scared people can learn something



    Please don't be scared



    also thank you #22 for speaking some sense

  • esquared

    Great artists have a temper -- Henry Miller is no different. He's not that all wrong when he says that NYC is "the ugliest, filthiest, shittiest city in the world.” Sadly, although Bloomberg have sanitized NYC and all these yunnies -- Carrie Bradshaw wannabes -- have suburbanized the city, it is more so today, since these people are taking out the soul and character of the city, thrashing the place and operate towards one single-minded purpose, which is to consume everything and everyone in their paths.

  • roe

    He didn't even screw Marilyn Monroe like his brother did.



    Um...Henry Miller and Arthur Miller weren't brothers.

  • other_islander

    "...the ugliest, filthiest, shittiest city in the world.”



    Yup, that pretty much sums it up.

  • Think2wice

    And the zeitgeist of Manhattan below Harlem today...



    ...a "writer" in four inch heels, wearing a newsboy cap at a jaunty angle, a candystriper's gown, and a parasol, while ranting about the fabulousness of Manhattan and how everywhere else is an ugly, filthy, shithole.



    Which of the two do I find more hilarious?

  • Rfive

    No, it was Barney Miller. Check yo facts!

  • Snoopy

    Mr. Mel, I just checked out the info on Google and you are 100% correct, they aren't related. I was thinking of Glen Miller. Sorry.

  • salad

    did i miss the meeting where Henry Miller was condemned? I'd say he was a pretty spry fellow who was lucky enough to live a good, long, productive life. What is there to hate in that?

  • Mr Mel

    Hey Snoopy,

    Arthur Miller and Henry Miller weren't brothers.





  • Snoopy

    Dave, I remember seeing that skit with John Belushi at the cemetery reflecting on all the other cast members that went before him. Ironically he was the first to go.

  • Roquentin

    You have to understand Henry Miller to appreciate this. In his own weird way Miller was NYC. Not some glamorous fantasy version of it, but the angry poor kid from Brooklyn in the 20s kind. He was kind of the American Louis Celine, whose style is an obvious influence. Tropic of Capricorn is still one of the best books ever written. I don't care what anyone says.



    That interview was pretty far over the top, but I know enough to expect that out of him.

  • Rfive

    bitches...chill the fuck out. this is theatre idiots...#4 & 12 got it right on the money.



    jeez...

  • Dave Hogarty

    One has to take this video with a few grains of salt. Tom Schiller was a multi-season writer for Saturday Night Live and the creator of the famous faux-doc where John Belushi is seen as an old man mourning all of his since-deceased fellow cast members (one of the most ironic short films ever created.) Plaintive violins were one of Schiller's production trademarks.



    Even in the later years of his time with SNL, the show would air short films produced "In Schiller-Vision." His shorts were the precursor to Robert Smigel's "TV Funhouse" interruptions, and more recently the SNL digital shorts that they air mid-program and usually featuring Andy Samberg.



    I don't think Miller's griping is supposed to be taken seriously; or it's supposed to be taken as seriously as the set it was shot on, i.e. a bad simulacra of reminiscent griping.

  • matty

    He's so "real" and "authentic"



    I really feel bad for the people who grew up in vapid suburbs and moved to new york to find "authentic" and realized that it isn't there anymore and now worship anyone who lived in nyc prior to 9/11.



    Sad sad sad sad.



    Anyway, fuck eastern cities. I want a beach, babes and sun. LA here I come!

  • Shinobi Shaw

    I thought he was cool, authentic and like someone said an old fashion New Yorker.



    I can just picture him in 1930s-1980s's New York.

  • shamanovsky

    sad violins really hike up the cheese factor.

  • shamanovsky

    Classic. Rambling.

  • slappy

    Some people think he is a god.



    He talks like that about everything.

    He's an old fashioned hardcore NYer.

    Those are words of love.

  • west side Michael

    I thought he was just like my art gallery dealer

    on West 20th street,Ugh!

  • Snoopy

    One obvious thing is the old cane bearing asshole is on a Hollywood lot of what old fucks think NYC looked like.



    Can anyone explain where in NYC that confluence exists? No off island sites. Here in NY, NY. Notice all the newly painted signs on the sides of building.



    "the ugliest, filthiest, shittiest city in the world?"



    How about "the most dumbest, assholiness, fuckhead to walk the earth?"



    He didn't even screw Marilyn Monroe like his brother did.

  • Snoopy

    Two words Miller. DROP DEAD!

  • Spirit of 76

    And where would you have been without the hardships that pushed you toward ambition and achievement?

  • sonyactivision

    He was "The Tropic of Cancer".

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