Henry Miller — oracle of writing, modern philosopher, man of discipline, wise heart — may endure as a literary legend, but part of what made his spirit so extraordinary was his irreverence and his childlike wonder at the world. From This Is Henry, Henry Miller from Brooklyn: Conversations with the Author from the Henry Miller Odyssey (public library) — the same 1974 gem that gave us Miller’s meditation on the mystery of the universe and the meaning of life — comes his delightful paean to something far less exalted and much more grittily human: urination.

I do not find it strange that America placed a urinal in the middle of the Paris exhibit in Chicago. I think it belongs there, and I think it a tribute that the French should be proud of. … I am a man who pisses largely and frequently, which they say is a sign of great mental activity. One likes to piss in sunlight among human beings who stand and smile down at you. Standing behind a tin strip and looking out on the throng with that contented, easy, vacant smile, that long reminiscent pleasurable look, is a good thing. How many times have I stood thus in this smiling gracious world, the sun splashing over me and the birds twittering crazily, and found a woman looking down at me from an open window. Standing thus with heart and bly and bladder open, I seem to recall every urinal I ever stepped into. To relieve a full bladder is one of the great human joys.

This Is Henry, Henry Miller from Brooklyn is a treat in its entirety, an unprecedented glimpse of Miller’s character in all of its dimensions, from the playful to the profound. Complement it with Miller on the art of living and the future of mankind.