Aside from some very painfully obvious political incorrectness that comes with the time (these stories were originally written in the 1940s), it was a fun read.

Not all of it is something you'd actually want to read in an erotica. In fact, a lot of it is strange, such as incest and necrophilia. However, I still found it interesting to read during this time. As Nin states in the intro, often she was trolling her erotica commissioner to see how far she could push her limits.

One major thing I didn't care for in this book was the long story in the middle called Elena. It just went on and on, and the Pierre character was atrociously annoying. This was proven when he, later in his own story called Pierre, has sex with a washed-up corpse.

Ah well. To me, this is more interesting to read from a literature standpoint. Though I suppose there's still pleasure to be had within some of the stories from an actual erotic standpoint. The other volume, Little Birds, is probably better for that kind of thing since it's a much more'short and sweet' collection of stories than this particular one.

Overall, while this book has its flaws, it still offers an interesting look into the mind of Anaïs Nin and her exploration of erotica during a different era.

Anaïs, what a delight it is to make your literary acquaintance. I have been intrigued by your story, by that almost morbid aura of interest that surrounds your literary production, inexorably intertwined with your personal life.

"Delta of Venus" is a collection of erotic stories, some of them interconnected through the protagonists, but in fact enjoyable individually without losing value. Some are short, others longer, but all centered on the constant sexual tension that is felt on every page. It is not easy to write about sex, and writing about it well is even more difficult.

Anaïs Nin manages to do it perfectly. Her words have the power to arouse and stimulate, to transport the reader into a world of passion and desire. She explores the human psyche with a boldness and a sensitivity that are truly remarkable. Her stories are not just about sex, but about love, longing, and the search for connection.

In "Delta of Venus", Nin shows us that sex can be a beautiful and powerful thing, a means of expressing our deepest emotions and desires. She challenges our preconceptions and invites us to look at ourselves and our relationships in a new light. This collection is a must-read for anyone who is interested in exploring the mysteries of the human heart and the power of erotic literature.

Honestly, I have to say that I really liked this book. It is indeed erotica, but it is of a classic nature. I have a deep love for everything that was written so many years ago, long before I was even born, and yet people still devour these works as if they were recently published.

However, it's important not to read this book straight through in just a few days. Doing so could potentially numb the senses and cause one to lose the true meaning of the stories. You see, this book is composed of short stories about sexual encounters. Anais Nin was very meticulous in ensuring that each story was different from the others. She delved into various sexual subjects, mostly non-standard ones (and I'm careful not to call them abnormal to avoid attracting haters), such as bestiality, incest, pedophilia, sadomasochism, exhibitionism, or homosexuality. If you're not into these particular themes, your reading experience will likely be one of awe and surprise, realizing that people, even in the 1940s when these short erotic stories were written, were already engaging in such activities. Or perhaps they were doing those things and we no longer do, since we now have easy access to pornography or sensual images on the internet that can quickly satisfy our eyes when it comes to absurd things that we thought didn't exist.

In her preface to this book, written in 1977, Anais Nin revealed that she was commissioned by an unnamed publisher, known only as "The Collector," to write erotic short stories. This was in the 1940s, and she got this job only when Henry Miller became so busy that he couldn't write enough to supply "The Collector." So, Nin sent some samples, and the publisher told her to forget about poetry and focus on the sexual acts. And that's exactly what Nin did, resulting in these stories being published as a book posthumously after her death.

Surprisingly, even though Nin thought she had made the stories devoid of poetry, her natural and beautiful prose still managed to shine through. In particular, Nin gave a distinctive sensual voice to her women characters. What do I mean by this? Well, at some points in our lives, we men (and I apologize if I'm speaking only for myself, but I know I'm not a sexual deviant) enjoy watching porn films, even those XXX-rated movies without any recognizable plot at all. Especially when I was much younger, haha. But women? Like my wife, for example, she loves her X-rated films to have a love story incorporated into the plot. Otherwise, she'll fall asleep while I'm still enjoying the movie.

That's why this book is highly recommended to all erotic fans who appreciate the classic works of the masters. It's not like the filthy Fifty Shades of Grey (which I would rate only 1 star), even though so many people have read and liked it. This one has poetry and that unique feminine sensual voice that only Nin could create.

I dare to say it's a classic, and woe to you, E. L. James.

Yuck! What on earth is going on with the pedophilia, rape, and racism in this? It was supposed to be erotic, but it's anything but that.

I managed to struggle through reading three stories, but then I just had to quit.

The content is so disturbing and inappropriate that it completely ruins any potential for it to be enjoyable or titillating.

Pedophilia is a heinous crime that should never be glorified or even mentioned in a context that might give the wrong impression.

Rape is a form of violence and trauma that should be taken seriously and not used as a cheap plot device.

And racism is a social evil that has no place in any kind of literature, especially not in something that claims to be erotic.

I'm really disappointed with this and would not recommend it to anyone.

In the Spring of 2009, as my heart was shattering, I delved into this book.

I was stubborn and resistant to change, but this book turned out to be precisely the remedy I required to break free completely. It wasn't until I felt Anaïs' voice resounding within me that I truly grasped and respected the essence of being feminine. It means accepting, renewing, holding and nurturing, passionately letting go, and in the process, becoming what I always believed a woman should be: a warm, dark, fathomless ocean.

With a naturally very dominant, fiery, masculine personality, real, true femininity was largely alien to me. However, her words and the worlds she created gently guided me across that threshold and made me realize the immense power that lies in being the passive force.

Yes, it is perverted, and some parts are "wrong" and disgustingly dirty, but Anaïs, in her profound, Piscean way, makes it sacred. She makes you feel it, gives you a taste of the ocean.

Anaïs is like a drug. I'm certain this "review" fails to do her justice.

Hammer Presents Readings by Anais Nin - Feb. 12
By Rena Kosnett

Anais Nin would have been 105 this year. If all the hype is anywhere near accurate, she probably would still be sexually active. Every time I overhear or take part in discussions about Nin, the conversation inevitably becomes vulgar. It's true that she presented herself as a cultural catalyst for female sexual liberation at a time in Europe when there was very little female-authored erotica available. However, I've always believed that those diary entries about her sexual relations with her father were, at best, a metaphor inspired by her studies of Freudian psychology, and at worst, a very lucrative insurance policy to keep her legacy forever sensationalized. Whether the rumors are gold or pyrite, Nin was a powerful and courageous literary figure. She happened to make many younger friends during her later years in Silver Lake.
Read the rest of Kosnett's pick at LA Weekly's website.
Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood; Tues., Feb. 12, 7 p.m. (310) 443-7000.

This was truly an interesting read.

I must admit that as I got toward the end, I skimmed a fair amount. The reason being that some of the stories were becoming rather long and repetitive.

However, I'm still glad that I picked it up for the book club! This older erotica always holds a certain allure.

One of the most fascinating aspects is the discussion around what constitutes misogyny and what is simply a sexual fantasy.

It really makes you question where that fine line lies.

I'm extremely excited to engage in this conversation with others in the book club.

We'll surely have some thought-provoking exchanges and gain new perspectives on this complex topic.

I can't wait to hear what everyone else has to say and see how our discussions unfold.

It's going to be a great opportunity to explore the nuances of this older erotica and its implications.

I'm looking forward to a lively and intellectually stimulating discussion!

I was rereading bits of this last night after seeing several one- or two-star reviews of it pop up in my feed recently.

And scanning through some of the other GR reviews here, there's a lot of people objecting that it's ‘icky’. One reviewer lists all the things that feature in Delta, like incest, rape, paedophilia, and then just says, ‘Ew, right?’

WELL NO NOT EW ACTUALLY. I mean, yes, ew if you like. Of course, a lot of these things may not be very appealing depending on your tastes. But more fundamentally, I just think this is a misunderstanding of the genre.

The whole point of erotica is often not so much to turn you on as to go to places that other writing cannot – to break down taboos. Like other kinds of genre fiction, it should be mind-expanding.

For instance, science-fiction or fantasy tries to conjure up other civilisations to contextualise our own. Similarly, erotica is the one genre that gets to look at social conventions one by one and imagine what would happen if they didn't exist or if they were systematically ignored.

The idea is to open you up to new experiences, and it's often meant to be unsettling and challenging rather than arousing. Although, certainly one key motive is to prompt that unexpected jolt from the reader where an internal voice says, Whoa, why do I find that idea so hot? I thought I'd dealt with all this in therapy.

Having made the counter-intuitive case that good erotica isn't necessarily sexy – Exhibits A and B being de Sade and Bataille – I should say that Anaïs Nin is nowhere near as far along the scale as those two.

Her writing is – well I won't say ‘sexy’, because that's so subjective. One man's boring theme exercise being another woman's dependable two a.m. go-to. But it is definitely rich and sensual and I think there is a lot to admire about her prose style.

Here we go, let's check out some hot Pierre-on-Elena action:

He was in France without papers, risking arrest. For greater security Elena hid him at the apartment of a friend who was away. They met every day now. He liked to meet her in the darkness, so that before they could see each other's face, their hands became aware of the other's presence. Like blind people, they felt each other's body, lingering in the warmest curves, making the same trajectory each time; knowing by touch the places where the skin was softest and tenderest and where it was stronger and exposed to daylight; where, on the neck, the heartbeat was echoed; where the nerves shivered as the hand came nearer to the center, between the legs.

This is typical of her approach, which makes use of a lot of short, simple clauses, either separated into different sentences, fairytale-like, or strung together with semicolons into long, dreamy bouts of poetic description.

She applies this ruthless sensuality equally to the sex and to the moments of violence or sadism that crop up in the book. I am far from the world's biggest Anaïs Nin fan, but I do think it is important that we have a woman finally writing about this kind of thing, rather than what we had for hundreds of years previously, viz. men guessing what women thought about it. I'm thinking John Cleland, Pierre Louÿs, et hundreds of al.

Nin always prompted a lot of varied reactions from other women, some thinking, Finally someone is saying it, and others being more like, Whoa there, speak for yourself, sister. Meanwhile men's excitement was split between the stuff they recognised (‘women think like us!’) and the stuff that seemed new (‘women don't think like us!’).

I do think it's interesting that you can draw a line from Delta of Venus in the 1940s right through to, let's say, Nancy Friday's Women on Top in 1991, and see that most of the themes have barely changed at all.

I don't think Delta of Venus is a great book, but I do think it's an interesting and important one and I have a real soft spot for it. Of course, in real life Anaïs Nin was as mad as a box of frogs, but she was the right person at the right time and I like a lot of what's in here. As the reviews show, it still has the power to challenge people today, when you might think the whole thing would have seemed rather passé.

‘Don't burn someone's genitals...it is NOT OK,’ says one reviewer earnestly. Well, yes, fair enough…it's just as well then that this isn't fucking reportage, it's a piece of creative writing. Jesus. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be in my bunk going over page 117 again.

The first story was about a Hungarian aristocrat, which seemed rather exotic. He was a figure of some celebrity value. However, the shocking thing was that he raped his son.

From that point on, the situation really went downhill. It was a confrontation between bad taste and tolerance. Sadly, bad taste emerged as the winner.

This story is truly disturbing and raises many questions about morality and human nature. How could such a thing happen? What does it say about our society's ability to deal with such issues?

We need to be more vigilant and ensure that such acts of bad taste are not tolerated. We must strive to create a more just and moral world where everyone is treated with respect and dignity.

It is only through our collective efforts that we can hope to overcome the forces of bad taste and build a better future for ourselves and for generations to come.

Each short story outdoes the next one, and it gets always weirder and, to be honest, also more disgusting. It's like a never-ending cycle of strange and unappealing tales. The characters and their actions seem to come from the most twisted corners of the imagination. You can't help but be both intrigued and repulsed at the same time. As you read one story, you think it couldn't possibly get any worse, but then the next one proves you wrong. It's a wild ride through a world of oddities and nastiness.

The rest of the world could vanish for all I care,

as long as I've got my Anaïs. She is like a bright star shining in my otherwise dark world. Every moment spent with her is precious and fills my heart with joy. Her presence has a calming effect on me, as if all the chaos and turmoil outside cease to exist. We have shared countless memories together, from漫步 in the park on a sunny day to having deep conversations late into the night. I cherish each and every one of those moments. She understands me like no one else does, and I feel completely at ease in her company. I don't know what I would do without her in my life. She is my everything, and I will always hold her dear.

A kaleidoscopic array of tantalizing erotica awaits within these pages. It's an "epidemic of erotic journals" that's an absolute must for the most insatiable sex aficionados. Undoubtedly, it stands as the pinnacle of its kind, perhaps even the bible of this literary black-sheep genre!

What makes this experiment truly charming is "seeing (of) sexual experience from a woman's point of view". Its Russian Nesting dolls "plot" is captivating, with stories nested within stories within stories. Characters, mostly artists, are introduced, and their fates unfold along divergent paths of sexual contest and victory. The taboos and erotic proclivities explored are extensive, including disguises, underwear, exhibitionism, rape, almost-rape, homosexuality, bisexuality, unfaithfulness, incest, necrophilia, bestiality, and child pornography. However, it doesn't belong within the parameters of Sade Park. No. It's classy, dreamy, and lush, in a league all its own. It's powerfully provocative and evocative, and at the same time, it's both hilarious and heartbreaking. It's real, and it offers a unique and unforgettable exploration of the sexual psyche.