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Spy in the House of Anaïs Nin
Nin’s importance as a feminist and visionary is finally revealed.
Based on a new examination of long-buried letters, papers, and original manuscripts held at UCLA and found in Nin’s Los Angeles home, Spy in the House of Anais Nin takes a penetrating look at Nin’s incredible life and famous diary.
Firmly placing Nin in her historical context as a feminist and visionary, this collection of essays lifts the lid on the origins of Nin’s secrets and lies, gives voice to her husband via an unpublished letter, reveals Nin’s real politics, and discloses the truth of Gore Vidal’s feelings for Nin via an unearthed love letter from Vidal to Nin.
With this book, author Kim Krizan serves as the ultimate spy, conducting deep background on Anais Nin -- the notorious, rule-shattering diarist who was the self-proclaimed “spy in the house of love.”
Based on a new examination of long-buried letters, papers, and original manuscripts held at UCLA and found in Nin’s Los Angeles home, Spy in the House of Anais Nin takes a penetrating look at Nin’s incredible life and famous diary.
Firmly placing Nin in her historical context as a feminist and visionary, this collection of essays lifts the lid on the origins of Nin’s secrets and lies, gives voice to her husband via an unpublished letter, reveals Nin’s real politics, and discloses the truth of Gore Vidal’s feelings for Nin via an unearthed love letter from Vidal to Nin.
With this book, author Kim Krizan serves as the ultimate spy, conducting deep background on Anais Nin -- the notorious, rule-shattering diarist who was the self-proclaimed “spy in the house of love.”
232 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 3, 2019
76 people are currently reading
155 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 1, 2020
I have a lot to say about this book, because I was living next door to Anaiis Nin's house in Silver Lake and used to hang over the back fence and shoot the breeze with Rupert Pole. I was there when the author was researching the book in Nin's old study. This, of course, was years after her death. At that time all I had read was Delta of Venus and Spy in the House of Love. The criticism of Spy was fair; it was both uneven and pretentious. But it was also daring, brilliant and fascinating.
Some years later I married, and some years after that my wife had health problems that required me to stay near the house most of the time. On her shelves she had all of Nin's then published diaries and I read them all. They were fascinating and introduced me to the haute monde of Paris in the thirties, which was about as far as you can get from the world of a retired soldier from Oklahoma. So, when the unexpurgated books came out, the one that spilled the beans on her many affairs I read those too, and later I read her childhood diaries as well. In the end I knew Anaiis Nin better than I had ever known anybody, better even than I knew myself. That, to me, is the great virtue of those books.
But Krizan has gone me one better. The excerpts she quotes I must have read, but I couldn't remember them, and they were insightful and key to the understanding of Nin, so that, after reading this book I understood her, and her husband Hugh Guiler better than ever before.
It is Krizan's belief that Nin was a forerunner of the internet age in that she chronicled every detail of her exotic erotic high Bohemian life. I would go a bit further and say that Anaiis Nin was a superhero of erotica. It's all there, the costumes, the secret identity, the fantastic adventures. If you're at all interested in Anaiis Nin this book is a must.
Some years later I married, and some years after that my wife had health problems that required me to stay near the house most of the time. On her shelves she had all of Nin's then published diaries and I read them all. They were fascinating and introduced me to the haute monde of Paris in the thirties, which was about as far as you can get from the world of a retired soldier from Oklahoma. So, when the unexpurgated books came out, the one that spilled the beans on her many affairs I read those too, and later I read her childhood diaries as well. In the end I knew Anaiis Nin better than I had ever known anybody, better even than I knew myself. That, to me, is the great virtue of those books.
But Krizan has gone me one better. The excerpts she quotes I must have read, but I couldn't remember them, and they were insightful and key to the understanding of Nin, so that, after reading this book I understood her, and her husband Hugh Guiler better than ever before.
It is Krizan's belief that Nin was a forerunner of the internet age in that she chronicled every detail of her exotic erotic high Bohemian life. I would go a bit further and say that Anaiis Nin was a superhero of erotica. It's all there, the costumes, the secret identity, the fantastic adventures. If you're at all interested in Anaiis Nin this book is a must.
January 12, 2020
Filters the work of Anais Nin through a contemporary prism to cast new light on her life and examine its impact upon the world today.
I’ve always been aware of Anais Nin, but only really delved into her work a couple of years ago. I came across the first volume of her journals and just kept reading ... it was electrifying. So open and honest (yet not as honest as I’d later discover), and so beautifully written.
My interest led me to the Anais Nin Foundation on Instagram who were posting unseen photos, quotes and insights on a regular basis. Little did I know Kim Krizan (one of the people behind my favourite films, The Before Series) was curating the posts, and it would culminate in the release of this book, Spy in the House of Anais Nin.
It turns out Krizan had also been enamoured with Anais, and spent years researching her, which led to gaining access to all her notes and letters. Using these as a basis, Krizan combined them with the work that had already been released to create one of the freshest and most extensive looks beneath the surface of this enigmatic figure.
The real strength of ‘Spy’ (outside of the way Krizan uncovers previously unknown facts about Nin and those around her) is the way she presents Anais’ work to convey insights about the world today. Did you know, for example, that she foresaw the world of the Internet? In that way Krizan acts as a medium, channelling Nin’s words to speak directly to contemporary issues - including social media, privacy, and the realities of modern feminism. It’s this sharp insight that really adds something to the canon, and makes this far more than just another examination of Anais Nin (although even those are few and far between).
Whether you’re a budding Nin scholar, or someone who’s looking to take their first steps, this is a wonderful overview of Anais Nin that will provoke further thoughts long afterwards, and have you hunting for me. As for me, it’s got me hunting for more work by Kim Krizan, who has proven herself to be an intelligence on par with Nin, and elevated this to a sort of ‘conversation’ between the two writers. I can’t wait to see what comes next.
I’ve always been aware of Anais Nin, but only really delved into her work a couple of years ago. I came across the first volume of her journals and just kept reading ... it was electrifying. So open and honest (yet not as honest as I’d later discover), and so beautifully written.
My interest led me to the Anais Nin Foundation on Instagram who were posting unseen photos, quotes and insights on a regular basis. Little did I know Kim Krizan (one of the people behind my favourite films, The Before Series) was curating the posts, and it would culminate in the release of this book, Spy in the House of Anais Nin.
It turns out Krizan had also been enamoured with Anais, and spent years researching her, which led to gaining access to all her notes and letters. Using these as a basis, Krizan combined them with the work that had already been released to create one of the freshest and most extensive looks beneath the surface of this enigmatic figure.
The real strength of ‘Spy’ (outside of the way Krizan uncovers previously unknown facts about Nin and those around her) is the way she presents Anais’ work to convey insights about the world today. Did you know, for example, that she foresaw the world of the Internet? In that way Krizan acts as a medium, channelling Nin’s words to speak directly to contemporary issues - including social media, privacy, and the realities of modern feminism. It’s this sharp insight that really adds something to the canon, and makes this far more than just another examination of Anais Nin (although even those are few and far between).
Whether you’re a budding Nin scholar, or someone who’s looking to take their first steps, this is a wonderful overview of Anais Nin that will provoke further thoughts long afterwards, and have you hunting for me. As for me, it’s got me hunting for more work by Kim Krizan, who has proven herself to be an intelligence on par with Nin, and elevated this to a sort of ‘conversation’ between the two writers. I can’t wait to see what comes next.
June 30, 2020
More like 3.5. When this was good, it was ON FIRE. Unfortunately, because it's a series of essays pulled from different sources, there was an awful lot of repetition. Like, every essay.
There was less analysis than I was expecting, since it's a collection of essays, but also, there was a lot skipped over, so it's not really a biography, either. I don't quite know what it's trying to be, and I get the feeling the author doesn't either.
Also, some of the conclusions drawn - her incestuous relationship with her father was about revenge on him, really? - are specious at best.
There was less analysis than I was expecting, since it's a collection of essays, but also, there was a lot skipped over, so it's not really a biography, either. I don't quite know what it's trying to be, and I get the feeling the author doesn't either.
Also, some of the conclusions drawn - her incestuous relationship with her father was about revenge on him, really? - are specious at best.
August 24, 2021
Lo hermoso de este libro es que "espía", estudia a Anaïs Nin desde el amor y la admiración. Así, Krizan explora diferentes aspectos de su vida (por supuesto no obvia los más polémicos -el incesto, las múltiples infidelidades, la bigamia- aunque no se regodea en ellos) e intenta hacerlo desde una perspectiva más intimista, interna, casi como meterse dentro de la propia Anaïs. No la justifica pero la entiende y la acompaña y sobre todo insiste en que la voz de la mujer es un factor importantísimo y Anaïs fue una especie de predecesora de tantas que hoy se animan a escribir sus propias historias.
Personalmente, disfruté mucho más la segunda mitad porque está enfocada en la parte de la vida de Anaïs de la que aún no había leído demasiado (leí varios de sus diarios pero de los primeros volúmenes, no tanto de sus últimas décadas de vida). Está llena de perlitas porque Krizan visitó lugares donde vivió y pudo acceder a cartas y diarios manuscritos que no han sido publicados. Incluso me gustó mucho que le da voz al marido Hugh, a quien Anaïs borró de sus diarios -los que publicó en vida- y de quien no se suele pensar más que como el tipo cornudo que la mantenía. Las relaciones son más complejas y de afuera todo se puede ver de manera simplista.
El libro está compuesto de diferentes ensayos que exploran los aspectos de su vida de un modo cronológico pero Krizan insiste en una nota al principio que se pueden leer en otro orden, que cada unx querrá conocerla por lo que más le llame la atención. Son textos ágiles, cortos en su mayoría y mi única crítica: quiero más, leería mucho más.
Me quedo con dos ideas al final. La primera, que la gente suele llegar a los diarios de Anaïs cuando experimenta desarraigos violentos y comienzos nuevos forzados, la idea de que una llega a un libro cuando tiene que llegar. La última, que Anaïs se escapa de un mundo y una realidad dolorosa creando su propio escape, su propio mundo en forma de diarios, e inventa sus propias reglas y es así como aprende a vivir su vida, por eso es fácil no entender por qué hace lo que hace o siente lo que siente, porque vivimos anclados a un mundo que nos dice que las cosas son de una manera u otra.
Un gran libro para quienes ya se han sentido cautivadxs por Anaïs y tienen ganas de explorarla más. Sobre todo puede funcionar como guía, porque creo que a la propia Anaïs se la puede leer en el orden que unx tenga ganas de leer. Yo empecé con sus diarios amorosos y luego fui para atrás.
Lo único en lo que no explora el libro es la ficción, porque se centra en su vida y en sus diarios, aa la larga, ésa es su obra maestra.
Personalmente, disfruté mucho más la segunda mitad porque está enfocada en la parte de la vida de Anaïs de la que aún no había leído demasiado (leí varios de sus diarios pero de los primeros volúmenes, no tanto de sus últimas décadas de vida). Está llena de perlitas porque Krizan visitó lugares donde vivió y pudo acceder a cartas y diarios manuscritos que no han sido publicados. Incluso me gustó mucho que le da voz al marido Hugh, a quien Anaïs borró de sus diarios -los que publicó en vida- y de quien no se suele pensar más que como el tipo cornudo que la mantenía. Las relaciones son más complejas y de afuera todo se puede ver de manera simplista.
El libro está compuesto de diferentes ensayos que exploran los aspectos de su vida de un modo cronológico pero Krizan insiste en una nota al principio que se pueden leer en otro orden, que cada unx querrá conocerla por lo que más le llame la atención. Son textos ágiles, cortos en su mayoría y mi única crítica: quiero más, leería mucho más.
Me quedo con dos ideas al final. La primera, que la gente suele llegar a los diarios de Anaïs cuando experimenta desarraigos violentos y comienzos nuevos forzados, la idea de que una llega a un libro cuando tiene que llegar. La última, que Anaïs se escapa de un mundo y una realidad dolorosa creando su propio escape, su propio mundo en forma de diarios, e inventa sus propias reglas y es así como aprende a vivir su vida, por eso es fácil no entender por qué hace lo que hace o siente lo que siente, porque vivimos anclados a un mundo que nos dice que las cosas son de una manera u otra.
Un gran libro para quienes ya se han sentido cautivadxs por Anaïs y tienen ganas de explorarla más. Sobre todo puede funcionar como guía, porque creo que a la propia Anaïs se la puede leer en el orden que unx tenga ganas de leer. Yo empecé con sus diarios amorosos y luego fui para atrás.
Lo único en lo que no explora el libro es la ficción, porque se centra en su vida y en sus diarios, aa la larga, ésa es su obra maestra.
May 25, 2020
Before reading any kind of poetry or avant-garde works I like to research the authors of which I'm considering to know where they are coming from in their writing before who they are. With that being said, I have read many works on Anaïs, but nothing like this. Krizan gives an incredible and haunting recollection of Anaïs Nin's life and servitude in finding herself among fear of abandonment. I only wish I had found it sooner.
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December 31, 2020Stumbling across Nin in my 20’s and early 30’s, I have now in my 70’s revisited Nin, her original diaries and the edited diaries that I read years ago. I am more than ever astounded by her insightfulness and intuition about the future. I much appreciated Krizan’s book on Nin. Nin’s personal life aside, I agree with Krizan that Nin was and continues to be an important visionary of the twentieth century and on into the twenty-first.
March 7, 2020
This is a collection of essays which the author has not bothered to revise to eliminate repetition, so you get the same facts and themes repeated over and over again. I read this to see if I might be interested in Nin after having tired of her a couple of decades ago (to the point of getting rid of her diaries, and it is pretty unusual for me to get rid of books. I mean I kept my mittelhoch Deutsch texts for 30 years.). This book did not convince me I was interested in her. She comes off as vain and self-indulgent even though the author keeps trying to assert how wonderful she is.
August 30, 2020
The essays were often frustratingly short, but Krizan occasionally shared the riches her access to Nin's private papers and the raw diaries. A good scholarly addition, as she also avoided the pitfalls of gushing too much.
October 16, 2024
wow wow wow
no se como me tomo 28 años aprender sobre la existencia de esta mujer. i am in awe of her, de su courage, su honestidad, sus many many flaws, just completely in awe of her. rip anaïs, u would have loved social media!!
no se como me tomo 28 años aprender sobre la existencia de esta mujer. i am in awe of her, de su courage, su honestidad, sus many many flaws, just completely in awe of her. rip anaïs, u would have loved social media!!
March 18, 2025
Informative and original essays exploring the life, writing style and literature ( diaries and fiction) od Anais Nin. I found I preferred this author’s critique of Nin’s work better than I liked the actual works.
September 10, 2020
I find this book repetitious and have trouble finishing it.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews