The Portable Anaïs Nin
by Anaïs Nin
The modern one-volume Nin: thirty-eight selections in chronological order, with the whole posthumous shelf finally in the pool.
- 2011
About Anaïs Nin
The story, briefly
Spoiler-freeThe current standard sampler: thirty-eight pieces spanning the diaries in both tellings, the fiction, the erotica, the criticism, and the interviews, compiled, introduced, and annotated by the Nin scholar Benjamin Franklin V, with a preface by Paul Herron. Published in 2011, it does what the 1973 Reader could not — select from the complete shelf, unexpurgated diaries and posthumous erotica included — and arranges the results chronologically, so the sampler doubles as a life. We shelve it as an anthology: her words, an editor's architecture. (Selections — nothing to spoil.)
The story, in more detail
Between the Reader and this volume lie the decades that changed the shelf: Nin's death, the erotica's bestselling arrival, the early diaries, and the unexpurgated project's revelations. Franklin — among the longest-serving Nin scholars and her bibliographer — built the new selection from that complete record, and the chronological arrangement is the editorial argument: read in order, the thirty-eight pieces trace the arc from the childhood diary to the late fame in Nin's own prose.
The apparatus earns the 'annotated' in its credit — headnotes place each selection, and the introduction frames the career for readers arriving fresh. For our purposes it is the recommended front door to the shelf: one volume, every register, honestly labeled as a selection.
What's inside
Thirty-eight selections in chronological order, with headnotes: the early diary and the famous Diary; the unexpurgated volumes' restored material; House of Incest and the continuous novel; the Delta of Venus erotica; the criticism from the Lawrence study to The Novel of the Future; and the late lectures and interviews — compiled, introduced, and annotated by Benjamin Franklin V, with a preface by Paul Herron.
Why we recommend it
The recommended front door
Every register of the shelf, one volume, expertly framed.
The arc, self-told
Chronological arrangement turns thirty-eight excerpts into a compact autobiography.
Scholar's apparatus
Headnotes and annotation from the bibliographer of record.
What this book explores
Timeline
1973
The Anaïs Nin Reader makes the first one-volume attempt.
2011
The Portable Anaïs Nin redoes the job from the complete shelf and becomes the standard sampler.
Book editions
Paperback
- Paperback
- Sky Blue Press
- 2011
Reader reviews
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The Portable Anaïs Nin: frequently asked questions
What is The Portable Anaïs Nin?
A 2011 anthology of thirty-eight selections spanning Nin's diaries, fiction, erotica, criticism, and interviews — compiled, introduced, and annotated by Benjamin Franklin V, with a preface by Paul Herron.
Is it a good place to start with Nin?
Yes — it is our recommended one-volume introduction: every register of the shelf, chronologically arranged and honestly annotated.
How does it differ from The Anaïs Nin Reader?
Nearly four decades of shelf. The 1973 Reader predates her death; the Portable selects from the complete record, unexpurgated diaries and erotica included.
Did Nin write it?
The selections are her writing; the book is an editor's anthology, and we classify it as such.
Who compiled it?
Benjamin Franklin V, Nin's longtime bibliographer and scholar, who also supplied the introduction and annotations.