The first two volumes of Anais Nin's long-awaited Diary have been received enthusiastically, praised for their subtle probing of personality and for their intimate views of some of the most interesting people of the period. The present volume, which continues the chronology, covers Miss Nin's return to the United States from Europe after the outbreak of World War II, and her struggle to come to terms, once more, with the "New World." Set in New York, in Provincetown, in Virginia, these pages bring to life the artistic milieu, the friendships and frustrations, the joyous moments and onerous obstacles Miss Nin encountered in her effort to establish herself as a writer on these shores. As in the two earlier books, many of her talented friends and acquaintances appear: Henry Miller, Luise Rainer, Robert Duncan, Caresse Crosby, Edgar Varese, Frances Brown, Yves Tanguy, Marcel Duchamp, Richard Wright, Canada Lee, to name a few. But the heart of the enterprise lies once more in Miss Nin's imaginative insights and lucid style. The Diary, more clearly than ever, reveals its value as one of the most important literary documents of our time.
