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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A respectable effort, marred by odd editorial approach, 10 Jan 2004
ANAIS: THE EROTIC LIFE OF ANAIS NIN is a respectable effort. It contains many interesting tidbits that I'd never seen in any other Nin biography. Unfortunately, however, I haven't finished reading ANAIS: THE EROTIC LIFE OF ANAIS NIN, despite the fact that I've had it for seven months now. The author's use of the present tense throughout is nearly infuriating. It robs this work of a true time continuum, which I believe is paramount in a biography of a woman who lived over 70 years, on two continents, with two husbands (at the same time). It gives the impression that author Noel Riley Fitch is trying to be suspenseful. It's quite puzzling why she would want to present her work in such an amateurish manner. Whatever the reason for the strange editorial approach, it just doesn't work. It's annoying. And it's a shame, because there really is a lot of promise here. There are enough interesting pieces of information in this book to make me think that it really could've been a first rate biography (for example, I found out that a former acquaintance, Eugene Monick, author of PHALLOS: SACRED IMAGE OF THE MASCULINE, knew Anais Nin [Monick and I lost touch years ago, unfortunately]). The pervasive present tense use, however, ensures that ANAIS: THE EROTIC LIFE OF ANAIS NIN is best suited only for those heavily interested in Anais Nin. I suspect that only the diehard Anais Nin aficionados would have the patience to deal with this book. I, of course, am one such diehard. And so this book sits on my shelf ... every few weeks I pick it up, find an interesting passage, get frustrated after two paragraphs, and put it back on my shelf. This ritual will probably continue until at some point, a few years down the line, I've finally finished the thing. Andrew Parodi
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