Little Birds

So, I feel like I'm having a love affair with Anais Nin. Its a shame really - to fall in love with a writer passed away three years before I was born. Our connection is very much abstract, but I must admit, its a very profitable two-way relationship and she's very generous. She gives me intrigue, inspiration and a close eye look at the wonders of female anatomy intertwined with history and social commentary. And I give her the attention she deserves, a very open mind to her characters and enough admiration that would keep anyone satisfied for a lifetime. But its through her erotica that our relationship really thrives and I can thank her short story collection, LITTLE BIRDS, for properly introducing us. Nin stories talk about the sexual frustrations of men and the rebellious women who realized their own sexuality in times where women were seen as modest and only the objects of desire. Her vignettes are short and precise but still give great detail of one's desires for what they cannot truly have. In a way, these stories feel like her own exhibitionism, mildly talking about a woman's enthrallment with their own bodies and their need to be pleased by more than just a husband figure. Though these ideas don't seem revolutionary by today's standards, Nin acts almost like a historian, painting the progression of women's erotic status: Nude models toy with their artists, women seduce each other in spite of the men and little girls flee from an over-eager gentleman. I In one story, "The Woman on the Dunes", a voluptuous temptress seduces a nervous man on the beach. Afterwards, she tells him about her experience witnessing a public execution, only to be raptured by a stranger standing behind her in the crowds. "A Model" is one of the most extravagant narratives in the collection. A nameless debutant finds work posing for artists, but soon discovers the expectations of the painters. Determined at first to keep her virtues, she eventually has an affair with two different painters, detailing the very mechanical nature of their love-making and yet exploring her changed attitudes towards sex and men. While neither affair turns into a committed relationship, the narrator recalls her transformation as a woman and briefly talks about the man who would become her first real love. As for the artists, they appear juvenile and beneath her. LITTLE BIRDS is incredible. All the stories are easy reads and will have you begging for more. But be forewarned, reading it may cause an unhealthy obsession with one of the greatest erotica writers of the 20th Century.

Let me begin by saying that I had not previously read Nin before, but was recommended to it. I was familiar with the works of Pauline Reage - but this took my breath away. Where Reage is dark and desparate, and a victim to her passion(obsession?), Nin rejoices in the tastessightssmellssensations of pleasure with the soul of an artist and a gourmet. There is a wealth of emotion here - If anyone is confused about the difference between pornography and erotica, this will set them straight. Erotica is literature, and transcends the purely physical. This is as much an arousal of the mind as of the body. Men especially need to read more works of this type if they are looking for a deeper understanding of how women think and feel about sex.

This is a very compelling collection of short erotic stories. Anais Nin does an excellent job of pulling the reader in and captivating them with descriptive and sensual imagery. A highly recommended collection! Also recommended is "Delta of Venus".

Anais Nin has a true gift for the erotic. Her writing is sensual with a touch of hardcore delicately placed so as not to turn the reader away. I was carried along with each character. A wonderful read for those interested in exploring the deeper,slightly darker side of their soul.

I HAVE NEVER READ ANYTHING LIKE THIS IN MY LIFE...ANNE RICE EROTICA DOES NOT COME CLOSE TO THE GENUS THAT IS ANNAIS NIN. SHE IS TOTALLY UNINHIBITED AND IT COMES THROUGH IN 'LITTLE BIRDS' AS WELL AS HER OTHER AMAZING WORKS OF EROTIC LITERATURE. - C