SPLENDID POSEUR The Story of a Fabulous Humbug

Hardback. A biography of the eccentric 19th-century poet Joaquin Miller, known as the "Poet of the Sierras." The author meticulously unravels Miller’s life, blending fact with the poet’s self-created myths. Born Cincinnatus Hiner Miller in 1837, he travelled the Oregon Trail, lived among Native Americans, and gained fame in London for his romanticised Western poetry. His flamboyant persona, marked by exaggerated tales and simultaneous marriages to three women, made him a literary celebrity. Friends with figures like Walt Whitman and Mark Twain, Miller’s Oakland home, "The Hights," was a shrine to his adventures. The author's irreverent yet engaging narrative reveals Miller’s contradictions, offering a vivid portrait of a colourful figure in American literature. With Index. 286pp. 8vo. h/back. With tiny label to fpd, lightly foxed edges, Vg+ in Vg. sl. creased/shelf-worn protected dw.