Anaïs Nin (1903–1977) was a provocative author and socialite known as much for her prose as for her scintillating personal life. Nin’s literary corpus includes lyrical autobiographical novellas as well as non-fictional essays; however, critics most often laud Nin’s literary contributions to the genre of women’s erotica. The author gained cult status in the late 1970s following the publication of her sexually candid diaries. Born in Paris and raised in Europe, Nin spent her adult life commuting between New York and California. The central motifs that recur in Nin’s prose attest to the author’s long-standing interest in Surrealism and psychoanalytic theory.