Recollections of Anaïs Nin: By Her Contemporaries

Anais Nin came into my life about five years ago in the usual way: via the diaries. A kind lady at the book buyer's counter at Powell's City of Books had given me the entire sent of the expurgated editions (this beat-up set was passed over by the clerk). I had never heard of this woman with the odd name I had no idea how to pronounce, and I had no idea why her diaries had been published. The only diaries I'd been previously exposed to were of people famous for things other than diary writing, such as Andy Warhol, or who lived through horrendous situations, such as Anne Frank. Apparently, neither scenario applied to Anais Nin. I didn't get why she should have published her diaries or why I should read them. But I couldn't see passing up an entire set of books. I took the books home and put them on my self. Occasionally I'd open them and stumble upon a passage beautiful enough to make me wish I could understand the point of it all. Alas, I couldn't. I eventually threw away the entire set because, well, the clerk was right. They were just too beat up (a few volumes were literally falling apart). A few years later a friend sent me a card that contained a beautiful quote by Anais Nin. My interest was rekindled. I decided to give the diaries a second shot, and I have slowly rebuilt my collection. Only this time I decided I would understand what Anais was talking about. This is where ANAIS NIN: AN INTRODUCTION comes in. Benjamin Franklin V and Duane Schneider, both associates of Anais Nin, provide the linear and straightforward interpretation of the diaries that I had longed for, devoting one entire chapter to each volume. They also take you through all of Anais Nin's most important fiction: HOUSE OF INCEST, WINTER OF ARTIFICE, UNDER A GLASS BELL, LADDERS TO FIRE, CHILDREN OF THE ALBATROSS, THE FOUR-CHAMBERED HEART, A SPY IN THE HOUSE OF LOVE, SEDUCITON OF THE MINOTAUR, and COLLAGES. Anais Nin's works of literary criticism are also discussed, as are the books A WOMAN SPEAKS (a collection of interviews and transcripts of lectures Anais Nin gave in the 1970s) and IN FAVOR OF THE SENSITIVE MAN (another book of interviews). Benjamin Franklin V and Duane Schneider have opened my eyes to a depth in Anais Nin's work of which I had been completely ignorant, and in the process they have given me an education in literature for which I am grateful. And, ironic for a book that has helped me understand the works of Anais Nin, ANAIS NIN: AN INTRODUCTION has made me realize that understanding Anais is not so much the point. Anais Nin simply had a beautiful way with words, a dream-like style and a diction unlike any other I've seen. I suppose the American mind is so geared toward a linear telling of stories that it can be a little intimidating at first when such a thing is not readily detectable (Benjamin Franklin V and Duane Schneider actually write that American audiences, more than Europeans, shy away from works that are not linear and pragmatic in progression).Andr

How confusing it is separate Anais' life from her books--or is that the worst one could do to her? The sticking point to a critical understanding of Anais Nin has always been the (incestuous?!) relationship between life and art, diary and fiction. Its especially confusing now that all the truths (or half of them?) are revealed bit by bit in the "unexpurgated" diaries. Is Anais a bigamist? A nymphomaniac? A compulsive liar? Can't she be, and a genius, too? This book has been critical to helping me get my head together about Anais Nin, one of the late twentieth century's most important novelists.