Collages

Anaïs Nin (1903–1977) is an iconic literary figure and one of the most notable experimental writers of the twentieth century. As one of the first women to explore female erotica, Nin revealed the inner desires of her characters in a way that made her works a touchstone for later feminist writers. Swallow Press is the premier US publisher of books by and about Nin.Anita Jarczok teaches American literature and contemporary cultural theory at the University of Bielsko-Biała, Poland. Her research interests include literature, narrative, and gender and cultural studies, and she is the author of many articles and book chapters on Nin, celebrity, and sexuality.

"A handful of perfectly told fables, and prose which is so daringly elaborate, so accurately timed… using words as magnificently colorful, evocative and imagist as any plastic combination or canvas but as mysteriously idiosyncratic as any abstract." (Times Literary Supplement) "Although it is called a novel, (Collages) is really a chain, a sequence of storyportraits of people taken from real life, revolving around the central threading character of a young woman painter named Renate. The background is Los Angeles and its environs. Various pieces and shapes of characters are gracefully arranged, almost as if without any conscious sense of shape or pattern…. They are immensely compelling characters." (New York Times Book Review) "The book abounds in magical descriptions of a highly original and sensuous nature. The best of collages fall apart with time; these will not.'