Teacher Guide

Tropic of Cancer Lesson Plan

Introduction to Tropic of Cancer

Published in Paris in 1934, Tropic of Cancer caused an unprecedented stir in the literary world. Anais Nin and others hailed it as a masterpiece, while some were baffled. Its explicit content sparked intense discussions: was Tropic of Cancer pornography or literature?

Just four years after its release, the United States government banned the novel, along with all of Miller's subsequent works, citing its explicit descriptions of sexual experiences as immoral. It wasn't until 1961, with the legal defense of Elmer Gertz in Illinois, that the ban was lifted. The ACLU supported Grove Press, the book's publisher, as they faced numerous lawsuits to protect the book. In 1964, a Supreme Court...

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