Description
Book SynopsisBefore Madonna and her many imitators, there was Anaïs Nin, the diarist, novelist, and provocateur. Jarczok reveals how Nin crafted her personae, which she rewrote and restyled to suit her needs, and how she occupied a singular space in 20th-century culture, as a literary figure, a voice of female sexual liberation, and a celebrity.
Trade Review“Jarczok brings Nin scholarship well into the twenty-first century, where it deserves to be.”
“[Insightfully explores] questions of [Nin's] self-invention and reception.” * Public Books *
“Anita Jarczok is an adept guide for the reconsideration of Nin, neither diminishing nor overinflating her subject.…Taking up the perception of Nin as ‘a devious manipulator, a liar, and a master of self-promotion,’ Jarczok examines the ways in which Nin cultivated her image…However, Jarczok also asks: why shouldn’t Nin have been ambitious?” * Times Higher Education *
“[The book] is particularly well executed when it comes to parsing Nin’s reviews, her self-construction via her diaries and public appearances.
Writing an Icon: Celebrity Culture and the Invention of Anaïs Nin serves as a good reference guide to Nin’s career and reception history and it goes a long way toward explaining the checkered nature of both.” * Contemporary Women‘s Writing *
