Tropic of Cancer

Date: 1938

Region: North America

Subject: Explicit Sexuality, Sexual/Gender Orientation

Medium: Literature


Artist: Henry Miller

Confronting Bodies: U.S. Government

Dates of Action: 1938

Location: United States

Description of Artwork: Henry Miller's, Tropic of Cancer, deals explicitly with his sexual adventures and challenged models of sexual morality.

The Incident: The novel, Tropic of Cancer, and all of Henry Miller's works are banned from entering the United States.

Results of Incident: In 1961 the ban is lifted, although the work is deemed "obscene" by the Citizens for Decent Literature.

Source: New York Public Library, New York City