Delta of Venus by Anaïs Nin (1977)

Anaïs Nin and her book Delta of Venus was know to me as a classic book of erotica, which turns out was written in the 1940's, but first published in 1977. Years ago I had ordered it through Books on Tape, when you had to send away for them and they came on numerous cassette tapes. I quickly found that this is not what I want to be listening to in the car, which is where I listen to books. Then a few years ago, as I was given some boxes of books to get rid of from an artist friend who had passed away, I found a yellowed copy of this, so I kept it. Again, I found it was not something I wanted to read cover to cover in one sitting, but just sample a bit now and then. So I finally finished reading it.

I guess what intrigued me the most was the back story that these were stories written by Nin in the 1940's for a commission for a private collector, who commissioned other well know authors of the time. These were meant just for his private consumption and were not to be full of poetry and philosophy or romance, but just about the acts themselves. Nin and her friends would sit around discussing possible situations and environments, which she then put to paper. It was partly a joke and her characters caricatures, but she found language for the sensual and gave it a feminine perspective, in what was before then just a male domain. I have read about Americans in Paris, and she was part of that exciting time. It looks like I will have to look into some of the other things she wrote, maybe read some of her journals. Interesting woman.