Henry Miller
Opus Pistorum

THE REVIEW

Pornographic, obscene, sick, and depraved are the adjectives that come to mind when speaking of Henry Miller, especially when discussing this novel. Some might be inclined to think that having read Bukowski, nothing could scandalize them anymore, but they would be wrong!

This is a novel that Henry wrote on commission for a friend, who asked him to create something that explicitly talked about sex. Miller, finding himself in serious financial difficulties, had no choice but to accept, and what emerged, in my opinion, is yet another masterpiece by the New York writer.

“Opus pistorum” is something that goes beyond the most extreme human fantasies. Probably many of us have never even thought of doing what is narrated in this book. This work, dated 1941 and set in Paris, simply recounts all the sexual adventures of the protagonist Alf, without a proper plot. In fact, it moves from one fuck to another without even giving you the time to “come down” from the last erection. Do not expect detailed descriptions of places, people, or things; that is not the book's goal. Even Alf's personality is revealed story after story, piece by piece, and what emerges is the image of a cynical and decidedly sarcastic character, the only thing that matters is to stab his “giannazzo” (one of the many funny names he gives to his dick), to fuck them all, of all races, ages, and occasionally even gender. Despite the novel being centered exclusively on sexual episodes, it never falls into being banal, boring, or repetitive. And come to think of it, maybe it's precisely because it revolves around sex that it’s never boring, and then with Miller's particular humor, everything becomes very ironic, slightly lightening up the picturesque and surreal situations in which the protagonist finds himself.

The only advice I can give you (although it might already be understood from what’s written above) is not to even start it unless you're slightly mentally deviant like the author and probably the reviewer too, because it will only take the first two pages to understand if this reading is for you or not. If instead you feel disgust from the start… well… perhaps you can always read something by Fabio Volo or Paulo Coelho.