Many critics have commented upon the precedent-shattering descriptions of sexuality in the novel. Yet another subject of Tropic of Cancer is even more revolutionary: It shows what a working-class man must go through to live the creative life, and how he must redefine himself to develop the courage to write a novel about his own experiences in his own voice. "A year ago, six months ago," the narrator tells us, "I thought that I was an artist. I no longer think about it, I am."
- Louise De Salvo, Introduction, Tropic of Cancer
