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In Delta of Venus Anaïs Nin conjures up a glittering cascade of sexual encounters. Creating her own 'language of the senses', she explores an area that was previously the domain of male writers and brings to it her own unique perceptions. Her vibrant and impassioned prose evokes the essence of female sexuality in a world where only love has meaning.
Her second volume of erotic writings, Little Birds, is also published by Penguin.
About the Author
Partly of Spanish origin, Anaïs Nin was also of Cuban, French and Danish descent. She was born in Paris and spent her childhood in various parts of Europe. Her father left the family for another woman, which shocked Anaïs profoundly and was the reason for her mother to take her and her two brothers to live in the United States. Later Anaïs Nin moved to Paris with her husband, and they lived in France from 1924 to 1939, when Americans left on account of the war. She was analysed in the 1930s by René Allendy and subsequently by Otto Rank, with whom she also studied briefly in the summer of 1934. She became acquainted with many well-known writers and artists, and wrote a series of novels and stories.
Her first book – a defence of D. H. Lawrence – was published in the 1930s. Her prose poem, House of Incest (1936) was followed by the collection of three novellas, Winter of Artifice (1939). The quality and originality of her work were evident at an early stage but, as is often the case with avant-garde writers, it took time for her to achieve wide recognition. The international publication of her Journals won her new admirers in many parts of the world, particularly among young people and students. Her novels, Ladders to Fire, Children of the Albatross, The Four-Chambered Heart, A Spy in the House of Love and Seduction of the Minotaur were first published in the United States between the 1940s and the 1960s, and eventually gathered in Cities of the Interior. She also wrote a collection of short stories, Under a Glass Bell. In the 1940s she began to write erotica for an anonymous client, and these pieces are collected in Delta of Venus and Little Birds (both published posthumously). Penguin also publish A Woman Speaks, a collection of lectures and interviews; Journal of a Wife,/i>, the third volume of The Early Diary of Anaïs Nin, 1923–1927; In Favour of the Sensitive Man and Other Essays; and, most recently, The Early Diary 1927–1931, which is the fourth volume of her diary. Henry and June, a chronicle of her passionate involvement with Henry Miller and his wife June Mansfield, and Incest are the new volumes of the 'unexpurgated diary' of Anaïs Nin, distinguishable from her previously published volumes by the references to both her husband and her love life. Her books have been translated into twenty-six languages around the world.
During her later years Anaïs Nin lectured frequently at universities throughout the USA. In 1973 she received an honorary doctorate from Philadelphia College of Art and in 1974 was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters. She died in Los Angeles in 1977.
There was a Hungarian adventurer who had astonishing beauty, infallible charm, grace, the powers of a trained actor, culture, knowledge of many tongues, aristocratic manners. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
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Customer Reviews
Anais Nin's book is very different. Her prose is perfurmed, intoxicating, rather than blatant, and she allows the realm of emotion to inform her stories. Although this may not sound expecially sexy in these "in your face" days, in fact Nin's work is profoundly erotic and deeply affecting. The writing is as subtle and powerful as a Debussy prelude. A feast for the senses.
This is erotic fiction but its not a blacklace or ace or any of those other publications, Nin was commissioned to write a series of erotic pieces by a subscriber and the preface/introduction explains the scenario, being constantly encouraged to be more and more explicit and being encouraged to go into almost medical textbook detail when writing sex scenes.
Reading the book with this in mind transforms the text, its not simply amusing or entertaining in the way that other great works of erotic fiction are, like for instance Fanny Hill, or, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (Classics) but I believe provides an insight into the feminine psyche. Despite the demands of the subscriber/commissioner there are still tender moments, reflections or recollections handled in a thought provoking way, some nice twists in some of the shorter pieces like guys meeting in a bar to boastfully relating their amourous adventures and discovering they have been unwittingly involved in a greater game.
I was pleased by some of the sensitivity in style and characterisation which I would attribute to Nin as an author and a women of her time, although this could be a consequence of reading her non-erotic writing too which I was encouraged by reading this to look into. The pace I thought was good, although it is different from one tale to the other, perhaps as a consequence of the demands of the writing or genre or subscriber/commissioner like I mentioned already.
On the other hand its fair to say that the tender content suffers a bit from the need to return constantly to sex scenes, it didnt spoil it for me but it could for another reader if that's their focus. Both the writing style and I think the sexual content is in sharp contrast to that of Henry Miller, seriously so, I loved Nin's books, including her other erotic writing Little Birds (Penguin Modern Classics) but loathed Miller's books Tropic of Capricorn (Harper Perennial Modern Classics) and Tropic of Cancer (Harper Perennial Modern Classics) (even if Orwell felt they where ultimately life affirming and vervatious).
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