Home › Books made into movies › Tropic of Cancer
Tropic of Cancer (1970): Film vs Book
Film · 1970 · Directed by Joseph Strick · Starring Rip Torn, James Callahan
About the film
An American writer lives hand to mouth in Paris and writes about it with raw honesty.
How close is it to the book?
Loosely based on the bookThe book's stream-of-consciousness style is hard to film, so the movie follows only part of it and arranges the episodes into a clearer story.
Read or watch first?
The novel is rough, rambling and unlike anything else.
What the book gives you
Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
A raw, energetic voice and a vivid sense of life on the edge.
Who will like it: Readers who like bold, free-wheeling books about life in Paris.