The Air-Conditioned Nightmare

The Air-Conditioned Nightmare was my introduction to Henry Miller, and it inspired me to read much of his other work. I don't love everything he has written, but I always appreciate him, and this book is a great find. Miller isn't constrained with his writing here; not by a plot, storyline, or even always making sense. I felt like sometimes he was writing words to have an impact on the reader separate from their meaning. The beginning of the book is great; Miller doesn't pull any punches about how he sees America after his long stay in France. If you are one of those conservative folk who have a hard time listening to people criticize the United States you probably wont like much of what he says, but he eloquently writes of his keen observations and the parallels to be drawn to problems we face today could fill a book of its own. Although Miller tends to go on long-winded tangents, the book stays light, and the writing is honest, sassy and generally fun to read. If, like with a friend, you can accept this book on its own terms, I think you will find it very enjoyable.

In reading Henry Miller's surprisingly contemporary 'The Air-Conditioned Nightmare I experienced the same kind of desire to 'see' America as I did when reading Kerouac's 'On the Road', but for very different reasons. While Kerouac's narrative was that of his experiences with people he encountered along his way while traversing the country, Miller seems most at ease in dozens of miles of empty desert highway, alone with his thoughts. Miller, returning from many years of living abroad, decided to write about his experiences traveling across America, and what his native people were really like; what the country had become, since the ideas and ideals put forth by the founding fathers. His scathing, relentless narrative berates the 'American Dream' and 'Way of Life'...and the pursuit of such. Americans are painted as greedy, self-indulgent, ignorant of history, bereft of morals, and devoid of honor and dignity. But Miller also finds along the way things that he loves. A greater understanding of the workings of an automobile, a love of the land itself that he never had while living in America, and much more. Juxtapositioned with his disdain for American culture and standards, it illustrates how Miller himself learned to separate the people from the place, and love America itself for it's most basic beauty and qualities; while bemoaning those who inhabited its soil. An excellent read by a gifted narrator, The Air-Conditioned Nightmare is not a book for the very patriotic. While it might give such people cause to re-think their love of life here in the states, it also has the potential to offend. Highly recommended, but only to like-minded readers.

Miller's observations of the USA are still true 60 years later. The contrast is between the man-made horrors and some of the wonderful artists Miller found in out of the way places. My favorite chapter is the story about Weeks Hall's mansion "Shadows" at Bayou Teche, Louisiana -- it inspired me to visit the place, which was still as mysterioso as Miller had described it.

These set of essays fit more like social diatribes with travel as a platform to announce them from.Miller relates the decay of the social core in American lifestyle,a way of life which he would gladly secede for the completely human natural way of living.Although his statements are mostly convincing,an objective & critical mind would notice the few slips of his zealous & antagonistic approach where one could suspect that if he did not miss the point of the topic that he assails on,he misses it as a whole.One can sense the innocent exuberance of his dreams & derisions,like a child wishing for his toy or an adult barring a door to the problems he wants to completely forget forever.The style of his writing is vigorous,lively with occasional flashes of grin compelling wit,highlighted at times by paragraph climaxes which round up all the previous sentences to a slap driving whole.Though lacking the spine-cracking,life-altering appeal of Bukowski and the inimitable brilliance of Celine,his adamnant and at times raging missives rarely fail to convince.The work as a whole could have been better if it would have stayed true to the gist of its inception:A Travelogue.But the incongruence hardly affects the work at all, & this has got to be one of Miller's finest moments.

In "The Air-Conditioned Nightmare", Henry Miller writes about an automobile trip he made through the United States in the 1950's. His encounters with colorful characters, and his hilarious and insightful descriptions of the towns he passes through make this a "must read" for Miller fans. His criticisms of the banality and shallowness of American life he observed then still hit the mark. His favorite region was the South, which, as a Southener, I appreciate, and so this part of the book was especially interesting to me. Compared with Jack Kerouac's "On the Road", which was written at about the same time, this is a more cynical and negative view of America, but is saved from being merely depressing by Miller's wonderfully savage sense of humor and his ultimately forgiving human heart