The Winter of Artifice

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From the publication of her first book in 1932 until the mid 1960s, Anaïs Nin was an obscure author who published books with, often, small presses, and short fiction in little magazines. With the appearance of The Diary of Anaïs Nin, 1931-1934 (1966), however, she became well known, and then increasingly popular as more volumes of her diary were published. The number of her books published since her death in 1977 confirms that her appeal continues. At least twenty books of new or mostly new material have been published as of late 2006. These include nine volumes of her diary, four of them identified as unexpurgated (these four contain some previously published material); three volumes of correspondence (with Henry Miller, David Pepperell, and Felix Pollak); two volumes of erotica, plus five books of selections from them, one illustrated with photographs and another with artwork; and a collection of stories. Another volume of erotica has been attributed to her and her friends on the basis of unconvincing evidence. Additionally, some short pieces and selections from works published during Nin’s lifetime have been collected and published as books, and one novella has been published under its own title. Such a substantial number of posthumous publications begs the question of whether worthwhile Nin writing remains unavailable. Indeed so. Nin’s third book and second volume of fiction, The Winter of Artifice, has not been republished since its initial appearance in 1939. At least one serious reader considers this collection of three novellas Nin’s major fictional accomplishment.

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