Hôtel Central

Hôtel Central in Montparnasse

It was from the Hôtel Central that Henry Miller would date two of the most momentous events of his life in Paris. One was the beginning of his love affair with Anaïs Nin. The other was his decision to begin writing a book that would become Tropic of Cancer.

On the August 24, 1931, Miller announced to his friend Emil Schnellock from the Hôtel Central: “I start tomorrow on the Paris book: first person, uncensored, formless—fuck everything!”¹

His affair with Nin woul begin six months later; on March 8, 1932, following a night of passionate conversation at the Café Viking, Nin accompanied Miller back to room 40 at the Hôtel Central where they made love for the first time.

The Hôtel Central was home to Miller through several periods in the early 1930's. Here he shared the hospitality of Alfred Perlès, the Austrian expatriate who rescued him one night on the terrasse of Le Dôme. Perlès provided a place for Miller to sleep in his room and when funds permitted, paid for Miller to have a room of his own.

Fred, as I used to call him then, brought me up to his room. He hid me there for several weeks. He brought me food and cigarettes. He left money for me on the mantel-piece, in his delicate way. He found me a job. He sang and danced for me when my spirits lagged. He taught me French—the little I know. In brief, he put me on my feet again. And for that I can't forget Alf, as I call him now.²

Miller’s stayed in room number 40 and as Perlès recalled, he "liked his room at the Hôtel Central overlooking the little triangle of the Square du Maine, a triangle formed by seven mangy trees and a few wood benches, where the beggars and sandwichmen of the quartier. would go to eat their bread-and-cheese luncheons and drink their vin ordinaire straight from the bottle."³ Further out, he could observe the neighborhood prostitutes plying their trade along the boulevard Edgar Quinet.

The Square du Maine seen from the Hôtel Central		Statue of Chaïm Soutine

Today the Square du Maine is graced by a statue of the Lithuanian Expressionist painter Chaïm Soutine, who coincidentally became Miller’s neighbor when he moved into the Villa Seurat in 1934.

Miller's room in the hotel was next door to Perlès' and when Perlès was unable to afford the separate room they took turns making use of Perlès' bed. Miller slept at night while Perlès worked through the early hours of the morning at The Chicago Tribune. The two sometimes shared a meal of fried pork chops and potatoes which they cooked over an oil lamp in Perlès' room, which is vividly described in Tropic of Cancer:

Like a squirrel cage and shithouse combined. There was hardly room on the table for the portable machine he used. It was always like that, whether he had a cunt with him or not. Always a dictionary lying open on a gilt-edged volume of Faust, always a tobacco pouch, a beret, a bottle of vin rouge, letters, manuscripts, old newspapers, water colors, teapot, dirty socks, toothpicks, Kruschen Salts, condoms, etc. In the bidet were orange peels and the remnants of a ham sandwich.⁴

Miller stayed in room 38 during the summer of 1931. In the spring of 1932, following his return from Dijon, he lodged in room 40. Visit the Hôtel Central website to view photos of the rooms and to make a reservation.

Notes

1. Henry Miller, Letters to Emil, 80 (August 24, 1931) — Return address as Hôtel Central
2. Henry Miller, What Are You Going to Do About Alf, (found in: Robert Cross, Henry Miller: The Paris Years, 32)
3. Alfred Perlès, My Friend Henry Miller, 27
4. Henry Miller Tropic of Cancer, 291

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