Whence Henry Miller's title for this, one of his most appealing books; first published in 1957, it tells the story Of Miller's life on the big sur, a section of California coast where he lived for fifteen years. Big sur ...Whence Henry Miller's title for this, one of his most appealing books; first published in 1957, it tells the story Of Miller's life on the big sur, a section of California coast where he lived for fifteen years. Big sur is the portrait of a place one of the most colorful in the u.s.