Henry Miller Memorial Library Concerts

What an amazing find. The place is so peaceful and beautifully decorated. There are places to sit and read. At the rear of the cottage/library is a little stream and the sound of running water makes the place even more magical. Definitely recommend a visit! They also have a good collection of books :)

A unique book store that is in the middle of the woods. There is a hammock swing that is so calming to sit on. There is an adorable library cat walking around rubbing on your legs. Definitely a cool stop to visit in HWY 1

We park on the 1 and walk in through an open gate in the 8ft fence. Last night’s festivities are being loaded up on the open lawn. In front of us is a low slung cabin, wide and relaxed, inviting. Books hang from the eves, a whimsical remnant of the pandemic when no one went inside. They hang from trees too, wrapped in plastic and available for purchase. The library itself is a bookstore with quotes and old movie posters and photos and letters framed. Miscellanies in the best sense. I wander the small room in three circles, pausing with a different book each time. Tempted to purchase. Instead, I chat with the owner and the show presenter putting on a sold out concert tonight. They agree to sell me a door ticket four hours before doors and I leave delighted, excited to be back in a few hours for live music. I return in the late afternoon to the open lawn transfigured by rugs and camp mats and camp chairs, tables adorned with flower. The stage is flower lined and a whole band is set up. Alone, I mingle and meet people, easily and quickly feeling a part of this gathered community of big surites and Bay Area fans. A space of beauty. I Loved reading the Henry Miller letters, articles and quotes pasted around. I stood outside the bathroom at the back reading Pico Iyer’s 1991 profile of the man who the space memorializes. For book lovers and curios. For wanderers needing a tree rimmed break from the highway and the gathered hordes in the state park parking lots. I’m wondering what Big Sur was like before we all started “doing it for the gram” and stopped coming to it the peace and silence and solitude of the cliffs and the ocean. At The Henry Miller Library I caught a glimpse.

A very special place and always worth a visit :) the bookstore is full of both standard bookshelves and single books hanging around in plastic bags. There are a few interesting pieces of art. And, often, there are visiting artists playing music. The most peaceful vibes imaginable! Visit to reset your brain.

Years ago I dwelt in a cardboard box in a charming little village outside of Paris, a devout practitioner of ‘hyper-rhizomatic absurdist haiku,’ which originated with the blistering literary mind of Jean-Paul de Knutzsacht in the 1960s. My most anthologized piece being, cigarette flap jack raining within gardenias lugubrious hole. I decided my haiku required a tinge of Beat Americana to round them properly, so I ended up, after a forty week hitch-hiking expedition, in Big Sur. Oh, the jagged stone! Oh, the ocean’s relentless tides! While hallucinogenically bounding about the area I discovered the Henry Miller Library, a peaceful slice of the passion pie. Situated among the towering trees and cool breezes this bookshop will astound in its selection of titles of profundity available for purchase, including most, if not all, of Henry Miller’s works. I highly recommend this beautiful bookshop.