Anais Nin's Delta of Venus, published in 1977, immediately became a best seller. Many
factors contributed to the popularity of the compilation of erotic stories. The intriguing
conception of the compilation, the already recognized name of Anais Nin because of her
previously published diaries and short fiction works, the details and elements common to
a society obsessed with liberated experimentation, a unique feminine approach to sex, as
well as the exotic, fantasius imagery distinctive of Nin all account for some degree of the
success of Anais Nin' s Delta of Venus.
Anais Nin's Delta of Venus begins with an excerpt from her famous diaries
explaining away somewhat abashedly the contents of Delta of Venus. Delta of Venus
contains a collection of erotic short stories that were originally written for sale to a
so-called private collector at the price of a dollar a page. (Nin's publisher, John Ferrone
later discovered that he was actually a contributer to "an underground business...that
commissioned erotica and then sold copies of the manuscripts privately." )(Ferrone, 40) Originally, the
collector had solicited writer, Henry Miller to write the erotica, but Henry Miller turned
to Anais Nin and suggested that she try her hand at the task. Nin, though she does not
admit this in her diary, offered the collector "two volumes of her diary as erotic
entertainment before she began to improvise." (Ferrone, 39) "She hoped, that the
collector would be content with '"the one and only revelation made by a woman of her
whole intimate life"' so she could get on with her work." (Ferrone, 39) But the collector
rejected the personal sexual experiences presented to him by Nin, saying that the material
was too poetic, personal, and imaginative. He instructed that she "leave out the poetry
and any descriptions of anything but sex." "Concentrate on sex," he said. (Nin, ix) Anais
Nin professes that she then "began to write tongue-in-cheek, to become out-landish,
inventive, and so exaggerated that [she] thought he would realize [she] was caricaturing
sexuality." However she says "there was no protest." (Nin, ix) Nin seemed unsettled that
the collector would take pleasure from such "clinical description" of sex, saying that "one
day [she] would tell him how he almost made [her and other contributers] lose interest in
passion by his obsession with the gestures empty of their emotions, and how [they]
reviled him, because he almost caused [them] to take vows of chastity, because what he
wanted [them] to exclude was [their] own aphrodisiac and poetry." (Nin, x)
Nin churned out the pages of erotica that now make up Delta of Venus during a
lull in her career as a writer, when every cent she collected as a result of the erotica was
desperately needed. She never dreamed that the erotica would be best selling literature
years later. Nin had no intentions of ever releasing the works for publication.
Nin's career as a fiction writer began after her marriage to Hugo Guiler in 1923.
He encouraged her to write and after a move from New York to Paris, her birthplace, in
1924, Anais became known for her poetry and short stories, although her first notable
literary achievement was a literary review of D.H. Lawrence. Her later writings did bring
her recognition as a writer, but her lyrical, abstract, sensual fiction often received mixed
reviews and it was the publishing of her diaries (which she had begun writing during her
adolescence) that eventually brought her literary fame. This is not surprising, as Nin
herself admitted that "she could not convincingly enter into the mind of another and that
writing in the third person was unnatural for her." (DLB, 130) After all, her fiction works
all seemed to be fictional adaptations of personal events of her life. The diaries of Nin
were enormously popular and "once the publication of Nin's diary was initiated, critical
attention turned increasingly to this life project and away from her accomplishment as an
inventive writer of fiction. The seven volume Diary of Anais Nin, the four volume Early
Diary of Anais Nin and the several volumes of "unexpurgated" reeditings have
dwarfed...her achievement as an innovator in fiction." (DLB, 138) The fame of her
Diaries which were published prior to Delta of Venus undoubtedly spurred the popularity
and success of Delta of Venus. After reading the life of Anais Nin, which was hardly
conventional as she had numerous love affairs, including an incestuous one with her
father, strange obsessions, as the one with Henry and June Miller, and an interesting
perspective on life, the readers of the journals were surely intrigued and eager to read the
erotica of Delta of Venus as a chance to have an even more intimate look at Anais Nin's
life. Also, the story of the collector is mentioned in volume three of Nin's Diaries further
serving to induce readers' interest in the mysterious collection of erotica.
Nin originally was firmly opposed to the publication of the erotic fiction by her
current publisher Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. She was certain that the erotica was not
"literary enough" (Ferrone, 37) for Harcourt Brace Jovanovich and further she feared its
sale "would adversely affect not only future sales of the diaries, but also her reputation as
a feminist icon." (Bair, 515) She "stipulated that if they were published, it must be with a
firm other than Harcourt Brace and Jovanovich in order to keep them from corrupting the
reputation of the diaries." (Bair, 515) However, in 1977, Nin was suffering from cancer, and
the knowledge of her impending death, prompted her to sell the erotica in order to
"sustain Rupert [her lover] and Hugo [her husband]" financially after her death. (Bair, 515)
With the encouragement of her publisher, who was deeply impressed by the erotic
fiction, Nin finally agreed to their publication by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
However, Nin certainly would not have anticipated the great success of Delta of
Venus that immediately following publication "appeared on The New York Times list for
36 weeks" (Ferrone, 41) and would eventually be read in 26 different languages. A look
at some of the titles that also enjoyed time on the Bestseller Lists during the decade of the
seventies indicates another reason for the tremendous popularity of Delta of Venus. A
wave of non-fiction focused on sexuality arose in the seventies including such titles as
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask, The
Sensuous Woman, "J", Body Language, The Sensuous Man, "M", Any Woman Can!,
Open Marriage, The Joy of Sex, More Joy: A Lovemaking Companion to the Joy of Sex,
and 1976's The Hite Report: A Nationwide Study of Female Sexuality. The books
popular during the seventies indicate the overwhelming interest in literature focused on
sexual liberation and sexual gratification. Delta of Venus obviously benefited from the
success of the plethora of sexually preoccupied literature of the decade. After all The Joy
of Sex probably instructed readers to read erotica with their partners, making Delta of
Venus the perfect bedside table companion. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich released Delta
of Venus at precisely the right moment to insure positive reception. Delta of Venus fell
right into step with the genre of literature being published at the time. It is probable that
had Nin released Delta of Venus during earlier years, as her husband often encouraged
her to do, it would not have enjoyed the popularity that it did during the seventies. The
pages of erotica were, at their conception, undoubtedly before their time.
Many critics praised Delta of Venus for its distinctly feminine perspective
regarding sex. In The American Book Review, critic Sharon Spencer notes that "the
range and intensity of sexual experience presented in Delta of Venus has never before
been expressed by a woman writing in English."(Centing, 20) Ann Crutcher of The New Republic
calls Nin "the latter-day saint of the feminist pantheon." (Centing, 12) Although Nin claims that she
struggled to portray sex with out feeling, emotions, and poetry, it is clear that she was
unable to do so completely. In effect, she gave the erotica a sensual woman's touch
lacking in other forms of pornography. As her publisher Ferrone said Delta of Venus
displays "elegance of style and feminine sensibility applied to a literary form that was
often gross, dehumanizing, and superficial." (Jason, 52)
Although Nin's erotic literature could have been and was occasionally viewed
negatively by other women who may have seen the erotica as degrading and shameful to
women, it seems that with the influence of other literature that crusaded to assert
women's independence, Nin's Delta of Venus could be viewed as a triumph for women,
in that a woman freely expressed erotic literature in an explicitcy never before attempted
by a woman. Also, in most of the stories, the woman is the dominant, aggressive
character, while the men are often portrayed as submissive and supplicating. Her
portrayal of woman as a dominatrix, undoubtedly appealed to most female readers who
were also advocates of women's rights. Nin's erotic literature is possibly more
groundbreaking not in its themes but in the unique feminine perspective Nin
demonstrates. Nin addressed themes of lesbian sex, incestual relations, bisexuality, and
the like, and the behaviors were often initiated and desired by women characters. The
power position in which Nin places the female protagonists of her fiction surely elicited
the praises of women for the works. As one critc, Paul Brian said "there is so much here
that might be called feminist erotica." "Her women are often assertive, her men
sometimes strikingly passive." He says "several times the women reject men who want
them or refuse to perform certain acts which they find repugnant." (Centing, 3) These observations seem
to account for the praise of some feminists for Nin's works.
In virtually every aspect, Delta of Venus fit the social atmosphere of the
seventies. The counter culture of the sixties encouraged people to explore their own
identities. There was a continuing focus, thus, on self awareness. Along with that came
an uninhibited exploration of sexual activity as well as drug experimentation. The
unconventional sexual acts and relationships, the pleasure heightening opiates and
cocaine that color the pages of Anais Nin's Delta of Venus were typical points of interest.
The themes addressed in Delta of Venus of still especial interest during the decade of the
seventies further accounts for the popularity of the book.
Personally, I can see both sides of analyses of Delta of Venus. The stories I found
most appealing were those that left more to the reader's imagination by describing
feelings, emotions, and sensations, rather than the actual sexual acts. "Mallorca" is one
such story in which the sexual encounter is more innocently described with lots of
sensations evoked. A body is described as "languid", an embrace "lulling, warming, and
caressing." The telling of the sexual act is milder than others Nin depicts. The male
character is said simply to "mount" the girl and when the two characters finally
consummate the act Nin says vaguely that he "took the girl." (Nin, 36-37) I
found that Nin's own assessment was right, in that when she did describe the actual
sexual motions the reader is left reading a somewhat clinical seeming detailing of what
should be passionate, sensuous experiences. One example is in the story Elena, in which
Nin describes "the contraction of the vulva" and "the inrush of dense blood stretching
[the penis], the sudden tautness of the muscles". (Nin, 129, 136) The pointed, frank
descriptions made me feel detached from the experiences shared by the characters rather
than draw me in as I feel fulfilling fiction stories should. Also, I tended to enjoy the
stories where Nin chooses to give a bit more background and personal feel to the
characters because it allowed me to become more emotionally involved with the
characters. Another feature I found alluring was the fantasy like touches that Nin infused
in the stories through foreign characters and foreign settings such as the Peruvian woman
of "The Ring" and the Parisian setting of "The Basque and the Bijou." Although stories
which involved incestuous sexual activity were a bit disturbing to me, I found them of
particular interest after learning of Nin's sordid affair with her father as I am sure other
readers also did after reading Nin's diaries. It was likely those experiences that
compelled Nin to write a story such as "The Hungarian Adventurer" in which a father has
an unnatural sexual preoccupation with his two young daughters.
In conclusion, several factors led to the success of Anais Nin's Delta of Venus. It
benefited firstly from the intrigue excited by the diaries of Anais Nin previously
published. Secondly, the popular theme of sexual liberation and exploration matched
other literature of the decade, and lastly the novelty of erotica written from a feminine
perspective interested a large audience, in particular liberated women. Other factors that
probably contributed to its success were the exotic, otherworldliness quality of characters
and setting and the synchronous socialistic preoccupations common through out Delta of
Venus.
Works Cited
Bair, Deborah. Anais Nin, A Biography, Penguin Group, 1995, 515.
Centing, Richard. Under the Siege of Pisces: Anais Nin and Her Circle, vol. 7-11, 1976-80.
Ferrone, John. The Making of Delta of Venus, 1986.
Jason, Phillip. Anais Nin and Her Critics