''Quiet Days in Clichy'' is a novella written by

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...

. It is based on his experience as a Parisian expatriate in the early 1930s, when he and Alfred Perlès shared a small apartment in suburban Clichy as struggling writers (at 4 Avenue Anatole-France).Robert Ferguson, ''Henry Miller: A Life'', New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1991, p. 272. It takes place around the time Miller was writing '' Black Spring''. According to his photographer friend George Brassaï, Miller admitted the title is “completely misleading.”

Plot

The plot follows Joey, an American expatriate in and around

Place Clichy Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Often ...

. The book is divided in two parts. In the first, Joey and his equally destitute roommate Carl search for food and navigate relationships with various women. Chiefly, Joey with Nys, a prostitute he meets at the Café Wepler near

Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...

, and Carl with Colette, a fifteen-year-old runaway who moves in with them before eventually being retrieved by her parents. The second half, “Mara-Marignon,” describes Carl's volatile love affair with the married Eliane, and Joey's relationship with Mara, a prostitute he meets on the

Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc de Triomphe is l ...

. Mara reminds Joey of a previous lover, the married Christine, whom he regrets not marrying himself. This leads to a recollection of an evening he and Carl spent at their home with an acrobat named Corinne and a Danish woman named Christine. The four of them have a spontaneous orgy, which upsets Christine, who is laughed at by the other three.

Writing and publication

The thin volume was initially written in New York shortly after Miller's return from Paris in 1940, and revised in Big Sur in 1956, while he was working on ''

Nexus NEXUS is a joint Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection-operated Trusted Traveler and expedited border control program designed for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. Members of the program can avoid waits at border ...

''. The book was first published in France by

Olympia Press Olympia Press was a Paris-based publisher, launched in 1953 by Maurice Girodias as a rebranded version of the Obelisk Press he inherited from his father Jack Kahane. It published a mix of erotic fiction and avant-garde literary fiction, and is b ...

in 1956. Following Miller's victory in the obscenity trial for ''

Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, which is also referred to as the Northern Tropic, is the most northerly circle of latitude on Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted tow ...

'', ''Quiet Days in Clichy'' was finally published in the United States by Grove Press in 1965.

Adaptations

The novella has twice been made into a feature film. The 1970 version was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

production, written and directed by Jens Jørgen Thorsen, and featuring a soundtrack by Country Joe McDonald. The second film,

Quiet Days in Clichy (1990 film) ''Quiet Days in Clichy'' (french: "Jours tranquilles à Clichy") is a 1990 sex in film, erotic drama (film and television), drama film directed by Claude Chabrol. It is based on the 1956 autobiographical novel ''Quiet Days in Clichy (novel), Quie ...

, mostly in English with some bits of French, was released in 1990. It was directed by Claude Chabrol and starred

Andrew McCarthy Andrew Thomas McCarthy (born November 29, 1962) is an American actor, travel writer, and television director. He is most known as a member of the Brat Pack, with roles in 1980s films such as ''St. Elmo's Fire'', ''Pretty in Pink'', and '' Less ...

as Miller. McCarthy was 26 years old when he played Miller, who is in his early 40s in the book. Chabrol deemed the film a not-too-faithful rendering of the novella. In an HBO anthology series based on American literature, '' Women & Men 2: In Love There Are No Rules'' (1991), one of the shorts is “Mara,” based on the second half of ''Quiet Days in Clichy''. The 30-minute film was directed by

Mike Figgis Michael Figgis (born 28 February 1948) is an English film director, screenwriter, and composer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for his work in ''Leaving Las Vegas'' (1995). Figgis was the founding patron of the independent filmmakers o ...

. It stars Scott Glenn as Miller and

Juliette Binoche Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress and dancer. She has appeared in more than sixty feature films and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Silver Bear, ...

as Mara.Overview of “Women and Men: In Love There are No Rules (1991),”
''New York Times''. Accessed June 20, 2012.

References

{{Henry Miller American autobiographical novels American erotic novels Novels by Henry Miller Novels set in Paris Obscenity controversies in literature 1956 American novels Olympia Press books American novels adapted into films American novels adapted into television shows Grove Press books

Plot

Writing and publication

Adaptations

See also

References