Stand Still Like the Hummingbird is one of Henry Miller's most luminous statements of his personal philosophy of life. The title itself serves as a symbolic representation for this collection of stories and essays.

Many of these pieces have appeared only in foreign magazines, while others were printed in small limited editions that have since gone out of print. Miller's genius for comedy shines in "Money and How It Gets That Way," a tongue-in-cheek parody of economics, inspired by a postcard from Ezra Pound that asked if he "ever thought about money."

His deep concern for the role of the artist in society is evident in "An Open Letter to All and Sundry," and in "The Angel is My Watermark," where he writes of his own passionate love affair with painting. "The Immorality of Morality" offers an eloquent discussion on censorship.

Some of the stories, such as "First Love," are autobiographical, providing personal insights into Miller's life. There are also portraits of friends, such as "Patchen: Man of Anger and Light," and essays on other writers like Walt Whitman, Thoreau, Sherwood Anderson, and Ionesco.

Taken together, these highly readable pieces reflect the incredible vitality and variety of interests of the writer who extended the frontiers of modern literature with Tropic of Cancer and other great books.