Love Between the Sexes
by Henry Miller
A late, hand-sized argument that American sexual freedom remains stunted by puritanism and emotional immaturity.
- 1978
- 16
About Henry Miller
The story, briefly
Spoiler-freeLove Between the Sexes is a short late essay, published by Greenwich Books in New York in 1978 as an oblong, sewn pamphlet. Miller returns to one of his oldest subjects and frames it as a cultural diagnosis. Public claims of sexual freedom do not, in his view, amount to maturity in love; inherited American puritanism continues to deform relations between women and men. The first edition was limited to 276 copies and carried a cover illustration by Tom Bloom.
The story, in more detail
The pamphlet is closer to a provocation than a systematic philosophy. Miller contrasts liberation as advertisement with the harder work of emotional maturity, arguing that repression survives underneath modern candor. The target is not sex itself but the American habit of turning it into either prohibition or performance.
Library cataloguing establishes the 1978 Greenwich Books first edition. Bibliographic descriptions record sixteen pages, sewn oblong wrappers, printing by Carol Sturm at Nadja Editions, Tom Bloom’s cover image, and a limitation of 276 copies: 250 numbered and 26 lettered, signed issues.
Themes and analysis
Sexual candor is not the same as intimacy
Miller’s late essay returns to the difference between talking openly about sex and changing the habits that govern relationships. His target is the survival of puritanical attitudes beneath a culture’s claims to emancipation. Public frankness, in this argument, can coexist with emotional restriction.
That subject connects the pamphlet to The World of Sex, but its scale is very different. Love Between the Sexes is a brief statement, not another extended defense of Miller’s autobiographical novels or a survey of the sexual lives of their characters.
Reading a late polemic critically
The broad opposition between American repression and a freer relation to desire is Miller’s diagnosis. It should not be presented as an established account of an entire society. Nor does the author’s reputation for sexual candor make him a neutral authority on women’s experience.
The pamphlet is best approached as a late return to a persistent argument in his writing. Its compressed form makes the provocation accessible, but does not supply the evidence or developed distinctions a systematic study of relationships would require. It has no fictional cast or narrative ending.
A carefully made, very small publication
Greenwich Books published the essay in New York in 1978. Bibliographic descriptions identify an oblong sewn pamphlet, printed by Carol Sturm at Nadja Editions, with a cover illustration by Tom Bloom. The first edition comprised 250 numbered and 26 lettered copies.
These production credits belong to the book’s history, while Miller remains the author of its argument. The rarity of the edition should not be confused with its length or conceptual scope. It preserves a short late intervention in an elaborate small-press form.
Why we recommend it
The argument stripped down
The small format leaves Miller’s diagnosis of puritanism and immaturity unusually exposed.
A late fine-press object
Tom Bloom’s cover and the tiny signed edition place the essay within Miller’s continuing interest in handmade books.
What this book explores
Timeline
1978
Greenwich Books publishes the essay in a 276-copy oblong edition.
Book editions
Paperback
- Paperback
- Greenwich Books
- 1978
Reader reviews
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Sexus
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The Books in My Life
Another place where Miller turns personal conviction into a sweeping cultural claim.
Read our takeLove Between the Sexes: frequently asked questions
What is Love Between the Sexes?
A sixteen-page Henry Miller essay arguing that American claims of sexual freedom remain undermined by puritanism and emotional immaturity.
When was it published?
Greenwich Books issued it in New York in 1978.
Was it a limited edition?
Yes. The first edition comprised 250 numbered copies and 26 lettered copies, with signed issues and a Tom Bloom cover illustration.
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References
References
The sources below include the primary text, editions, scholarship, archival materials, and other records that informed this page. They document Love Between the Sexes, its publication, and its place in literary history.
1Love Between the Sexes
EssaysHenry Miller, 1978Used forThe primary text represented by this page, used for descriptions of the work’s contents and for any quoted passages shown here.
2Love Between the Sexes — signed first-edition description
WebsiteHenry SotheranUsed forWeb source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the Love Between the Sexes page.
3Love Between the Sexes — catalogue record
Official recordWorldCatUsed forOfficial record used to verify names, dates, institutional details, or other factual information on this page.
4Henry Miller — author page and selected bibliography
Official recordGrove AtlanticUsed forOfficial record used to verify names, dates, institutional details, or other factual information on this page.
5The Happiest Man Alive: A Biography of Henry Miller
BiographySimon & Schuster, 1991Used forBiographical evidence used to verify chronology, relationships, and historical context connected to Love Between the Sexes.
6Henry Miller: A Life
BiographyW. W. Norton, 1991Used forBiographical evidence used to verify chronology, relationships, and historical context connected to Love Between the Sexes.
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Why these sources are here
The primary text is the baseline reference for every book page. Additional references document publication history, interpretation, and historical context where that evidence is available.
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