diff --git a/Network/HTTP/Enumerator.hs b/Network/HTTP/Enumerator.hs
--- a/Network/HTTP/Enumerator.hs
+++ b/Network/HTTP/Enumerator.hs
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 -- > import Data.Enumerator.Binary
 -- > import Network.HTTP.Enumerator
 -- > import System.IO
--- > 
+-- >
 -- > main :: IO ()
 -- > main = withFile "google.html" WriteMode $ \handle -> do
 -- >     request <- parseUrl "http://google.com/"
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@
     , httpRedirect
     , redirectIter
       -- * Datatypes
+    , Proxy (..)
     , Request (..)
     , RequestBody (..)
     , Response (..)
@@ -70,6 +71,7 @@
       -- * Utility functions
     , parseUrl
     , applyBasicAuth
+    , addProxy
     , semiParseUrl
     , lbsIter
       -- * Request bodies
@@ -92,11 +94,11 @@
     )
 import qualified Data.Enumerator.List as EL
 import Network.HTTP.Enumerator.HttpParser
-import Control.Exception (Exception, bracket)
+import Control.Exception (Exception, bracket, throwIO, SomeException, try)
 import Control.Arrow (first)
 import Control.Monad.IO.Class (MonadIO (liftIO))
 import Control.Monad.Trans.Class (lift)
-import Control.Failure
+import Control.Failure (Failure (failure))
 import Data.Typeable (Typeable)
 import Codec.Binary.UTF8.String (encodeString)
 import qualified Blaze.ByteString.Builder as Blaze
@@ -124,8 +126,13 @@
     (addr:_) <- NS.getAddrInfo (Just hints) (Just host') (Just $ show port')
     sock <- NS.socket (NS.addrFamily addr) (NS.addrSocketType addr)
                       (NS.addrProtocol addr)
-    NS.connect sock (NS.addrAddress addr)
-    return sock
+    ee <- try' $ NS.connect sock (NS.addrAddress addr)
+    case ee of
+        Left e -> NS.sClose sock >> throwIO e
+        Right () -> return sock
+  where
+    try' :: IO a -> IO (Either SomeException a)
+    try' = try
 
 withSocketConn :: MonadIO m
                => Manager
@@ -169,6 +176,14 @@
     -- FIXME liftIO $ hClose handle
     return a
 
+
+-- | Define a HTTP proxy, consisting of a hostname and port number.
+
+data Proxy = Proxy
+    { proxyHost :: W.Ascii -- ^ The host name of the HTTP proxy.
+    , proxyPort :: Int -- ^ The port numner of the HTTP proxy.
+    }
+
 -- | All information on how to connect to a host and what should be sent in the
 -- HTTP request.
 --
@@ -183,6 +198,8 @@
     , queryString :: W.Query -- ^ Automatically escaped for your convenience.
     , requestHeaders :: W.RequestHeaders
     , requestBody :: RequestBody m
+    , proxy :: Maybe Proxy -- ^ Optional HTTP proxy.
+    , rawBody :: Bool -- ^ If True, a chunked and/or gzipped body will not be decoded. Use with caution.
     }
 
 -- | When using the 'RequestBodyEnum' constructor and any function which calls
@@ -198,9 +215,9 @@
 -- | Add a Basic Auth header (with the specified user name and password) to the
 -- given Request. Ignore error handling:
 --
---    applyBasicAuth "user" "pass" $ fromJust $ HE.parseUrl url
+--    applyBasicAuth "user" "pass" $ fromJust $ parseUrl url
 
-applyBasicAuth :: S8.ByteString -> S8.ByteString -> Request m -> Request m
+applyBasicAuth :: S.ByteString -> S.ByteString -> Request m -> Request m
 applyBasicAuth user passwd req =
     req { requestHeaders = authHeader : requestHeaders req }
   where
@@ -208,7 +225,13 @@
     basic = S8.append "Basic " (B64.encode $ S8.concat [ user, ":", passwd ])
 
 
+-- | Add a proxy to the the Request so that the Request when executed will use
+-- the provided proxy.
+addProxy :: S.ByteString -> Int -> Request m -> Request m
+addProxy hst prt req =
+    req { proxy = Just $ Proxy hst prt }
 
+
 -- | A simple representation of the HTTP response created by 'lbsIter'.
 data Response = Response
     { statusCode :: Int
@@ -242,10 +265,16 @@
      -> Manager
      -> Iteratee S.ByteString m a
 http Request {..} bodyStep m = do
-    let h' = S8.unpack host
-    let withConn = if secure then withSslConn checkCerts else withSocketConn
-    withConn m h' port requestEnum $$ go
+    withConn m connhost connport requestEnum $$ go
   where
+    (useProxy, connhost, connport) =
+        case proxy of
+            Just p -> (True, S8.unpack (proxyHost p), proxyPort p)
+            Nothing -> (False, S8.unpack host, port)
+    withConn =
+        if secure && not useProxy
+            then withSslConn checkCerts
+            else withSocketConn
     (contentLength, bodyEnum) =
         case requestBody of
             RequestBodyLBS lbs -> (L.length lbs, enumSingle $ Blaze.fromLazyByteString lbs)
@@ -265,6 +294,11 @@
             Blaze.fromByteString method
             `mappend` Blaze.fromByteString " "
             `mappend`
+                (if useProxy
+                    then Blaze.fromByteString (if secure then "https://" else "http://")
+                            `mappend` Blaze.fromByteString hh
+                    else mempty)
+            `mappend`
                 (case S8.uncons path of
                     Just ('/', _) -> Blaze.fromByteString path
                     _ -> Blaze.fromByteString "/"
@@ -286,13 +320,13 @@
         let hs' = map (first CI.mk) hs
         let mcl = lookup "content-length" hs'
         let body' x =
-                if ("transfer-encoding", "chunked") `elem` hs'
+                if not rawBody && ("transfer-encoding", "chunked") `elem` hs'
                     then joinI $ chunkedEnumeratee $$ x
                     else case mcl >>= readMay . S8.unpack of
                         Just len -> joinI $ takeLBS len $$ x
                         Nothing -> x
         let decompress x =
-                if ("content-encoding", "gzip") `elem` hs'
+                if not rawBody && ("content-encoding", "gzip") `elem` hs'
                     then joinI $ Z.ungzip x
                     else returnI x
         if method == "HEAD"
@@ -406,6 +440,8 @@
                             else []
         , requestBody = RequestBodyLBS L.empty
         , method = "GET"
+        , proxy = Nothing
+        , rawBody = False
         }
   where
     (beforeSlash, afterSlash) = break (== '/') s
diff --git a/http-enumerator.cabal b/http-enumerator.cabal
--- a/http-enumerator.cabal
+++ b/http-enumerator.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:            http-enumerator
-version:         0.6.5
+version:         0.6.5.1
 license:         BSD3
 license-file:    LICENSE
 author:          Michael Snoyman <michael@snoyman.com>