One of my favorite novels of all time is Anais Nin's A SPY IN THE HOUSE OF LOVE. It's one of her most popular works and has been cited by Carly Simon, Animal Logic and Jim Morrison. A SPY IN THE HOUSE OF ANAIS NIN is Kim Krizan's biography of Anais Nin. Krizan acted in Richard Linklater's SLACKER, WAKING LIFE and DAZED AND CONFUSED. She and Linklater wrote the screenplay to his BEFORE SUNRISE and the sequel BEFORE SUNSET is based on a story by Krizan and Linklater.
An Anais fan who got to know Rupert Pole (one of Anais' husbands), Krizan writes a book full of insight that addresses various issues but never in a judgmental way. Anais lived her life. She's passed away, her life's not going to change. There's no need to be a blustering boob named Patty Arquette and get all judgy on her. And, honestly, who was Patricia Arquette to judge anyone? How many failed marriages -- and that marriage to Nicholas Cage was always a joke (I'm referring to the marriage, not to Cage and making that call because it doesn't appear to have been a real marriage).
Anais transgressed all boundaries. She is famous for her writing. That includes her novels, her prose poem, her non-fiction (THE NOVEL OF THE FUTURE, the book on D.H. Lawrence), her erotica (such as DELTA OF VENUS) and her diaries.
She began her diaries as a young girl. It was a letter to the father who abandoned her family.
Later in life, for those who don't know, he would return when Anais was in her 30s (I think her thirties). He wanted to sleep with her. They did. And then she abandoned him.
Not behavior that I would want to exhibit, no, but perfectly in keeping with the way Anais lived her life.
And what a life. Ian Hugo was the name of one husband (I'm using the name he used for his art) and Rupert was another. She married Rupert in the 50s. She married Hugo in 1923 and Rupert in 1955 -- the second marriage takes place while still married to Hugo. She will stay married to both men until her death. She will not inform them of this. Rupert thinks she has divorced Hugo. Hugo either doesn't know about Rupert or (more likely) pretends not to know.
Krizan has a lot to work with and she does a great job making it come alive. I highly recommend this book. In fact, I'd rate it among the best books about Anais that I've ever read. (I've read seven, if you're wondering. I've also read all of Anais' published diaries and all of her published journals.)
