Delta of Venus

While I'll be forever reeling that these vignettes were written in the 1940s, the real narrative — for me — lies in the framework: Nin (among others) was commissioned by an unknown “collector” to write erotic literature for $1 a page (equal to $18 today), which she accepted to make ends meet. Henry Miller was also recruited. The idea of Nin and Miller, covertly romantically involved, writing hedonistic stories together “where the light was dim, the tea fragrant, the cake properly decadent,” interviewing friends for ideas and possibilities, and laughing at the bad and boring tastes of this not-so-secret secret collector... That's the biopic I want to see, and I want it co-created by Angela Robinson and Sally Wainwright for HBO.

this book is so short but took me many months to finally finish because everytime i picked it up i was transported to such a.. dark place. i hate to be that person without many words but the Vibes in this are really something else. i'm not sure if that's how nin wrote erotica or if it was the person she was writing these to.. what a darksided little book. at least when i finally decided to finish it today i was halfway through the story ‘linda' which is one of the best ones, i was thinking all this (why is this book so dark will i ever be able to finish this) and then found myself enjoying linda and felt bad. but i do like the style of little else matters but desire. the stories change characters and setting in the middle of a paragraph and they end whenever they feel like it, it's not always about making sense or even telling you a proper story (though it does do that sometimes). overall i suppose it is meant to be vivid enough to get one off and in that sense it works.. even with stories blending this book feels so alive, for better or worse. it's not bad but i did feel off whenever i picked it up and so i could never read much of it at once lol. but now.. i am free!