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Rating: 
Summary: beautiful and inspiring
Review: nearer the moon is a book whic has affected my life in so many good ways. I have become a better lyricist, and a more insightful poet because of her ability to be so bold, honest, and real while being one of the greatist poets and writers of our time. Anais Nin's writting not only stands asa representation of how beautiful life is, but also stands as a bench mark in history. We can look into our past and see when her writing was rejected from culture and society, and see how far we've come. Through Anais Nin we can actully see Americas liberation process.
Rating:
Summary: beautiful and inspiring
Review: nearer the moon is a book whic has affected my life in so many good ways. I have become a better lyricist, and a more insightful poet because of her ability to be so bold, honest, and real while being one of the greatist poets and writers of our time. Anais Nin's writting not only stands asa representation of how beautiful life is, but also stands as a bench mark in history. We can look into our past and see when her writing was rejected from culture and society, and see how far we've come. Through Anais Nin we can actully see Americas liberation process.
Rating: 
Summary: So Near And Yet So Far
Review: This unexpurgated volume of Anais Nin's diary contains entries from March 4, 1937 to October 23, 1939. The preface by Rupert Pole (her Los Angeles widower, as opposed to the late Hugh Guiler, her New York widower) notes, "Toward the end of her life Anais and I discussed the original diaries, and she asked me to publish all her diaries just as she wrote them." Having now read four volumes of the unexpurgated diary, it is my educated opinion that this was _not_ a good idea. It is unfortunate that Pole has dutifully released this volume of material in this form. It's like he published the first draft of a book--there is so much dross among the gold that I often felt that I was not so much reading as doing penance. It is apparent now that not all the material cut from the expurgated volumes was eliminated because of its scandalousness. If we have learned anything after the sexual revolution, surely it is that even the salacious can be dull. And yet. And yet. Amidst Nin's whiny posturing, her mechanical proclamations of audacity and innocence, nestle passages of such power and beauty (especially starting in 1938) that this volume intermittently becomes riveting. There are also a number of entries where Nin drops her self-glorifying posturing and looks at her own behavior with clear and unflinching eyes. For the first time, for example, I began to understand what she saw in Gonzalo, something that was a mystery to me even from the previous unexpurgated volumes. She becomes enormously likeable when she appears to be displaying some candor. I regard it as truly unfortunate that this book is unlikely to have many readers owing to its lack of editorial discipline. Be patient with it, but be prepared to skim, and don't read it as an introduction to Nin's work.
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