Buy new:
$8.49
FREE delivery: May 1 - 3
Ships from: Books Today For You
Sold by: Books Today For You
List Price: $9.99 Details

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Save: $1.50 (15%)
FREE delivery May 1 - 3. Details
Or fastest delivery April 30 - May 2. Order within 17 hrs 19 mins. Details
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$8.49 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$8.49
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Books Today For You
Ships from
Books Today For You
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime
FREE delivery Thursday, May 2 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Used: Good | Details
Sold by Read & Refine
Fulfilled by Amazon
Condition: Used: Good
Comment: The book may have minor cosmetic wear like creased spine, cover, scratches, curled corners, folded pages, minor sunburn, minor water damage, minor bent. The book may have some highlights, notes, underlined pages. Accessories such as CD, codes, toys, may not be included . Safe and Secure Mailer. No Hassle Return

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. Something we hope you'll especially enjoy: FBA items qualify for FREE Shipping and Amazon Prime.

If you're a seller, Fulfillment by Amazon can help you grow your business. Learn more about the program.

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Kim Krizan
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Spy in the House of Anaïs Nin Paperback – August 1, 2019

by Kim Krizan (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 77 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$8.49","priceAmount":8.49,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"8","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"49","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"8VhU3yQmx139HR4gX6JdzpkJNnFFYTPivOdIQQi8fgOAXbKMdAKMRLNCrVTj31R%2BFHxab3SRD8NUcDf8h9l1nIjZJBSUBUfSftCvwP0Zx%2Fe%2BXu23kVwxj%2FR4tCpbwFsX8a4s75S5%2B6yZyvz0%2BxlQZRFhfD6BS819x%2B24XdWGVMF0TxdoNcgri%2BrT1IFnIJrp","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$7.40","priceAmount":7.40,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"7","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"40","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"8VhU3yQmx139HR4gX6JdzpkJNnFFYTPimOs3avfhtRATsRuA57W1KKXyocHhvHo4U%2BnJVRkI7it17QvMaasjxajKMXlJ9f31d%2BNCRPtZDkhQOQdqm41%2BeWLKC9194WoP1%2Fu94deOBwckoQPo1BuAM90ySM99Ni6RVSGAae4qsR5IiSSgmOFYiHTVkSOpYAHl","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Nin's importance as a feminist and visionary is finally revealed. Based on a new examination of long-buried letters, papers, and original manuscripts held at UCLA and found in Nin's Los Angeles home, Spy in the House of Anais Nin takes a penetrating look at Nin's incredible life and famous diary. Firmly placing Nin in her historical context as a feminist and visionary, this collection of essays lifts the lid on the origins of Nin's secrets and lies, gives voice to her husband via an unpublished letter, reveals Nin's real politics, and discloses the truth of Gore Vidal’s feelings for Nin via an unearthed love letter from Vidal to Nin. With this book, author Kim Krizan serves as the ultimate spy, conducting deep background on Anais Nin -- the notorious, rule-shattering diarist who was the self-proclaimed “spy in the house of love.”
Previous page
  1. Print length
    204 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    August 1, 2019
  4. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.51 x 8.5 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1733992200
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1733992206
  7. See all details
Next page
Amazon First Reads | Editors' picks at exclusive prices

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Previous page
  1. Anaïs Nin: A Sea of Lies (Anaïs Nin)
Next page

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Total Global Domination (August 1, 2019)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 204 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1733992200
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1733992206
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.51 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 77 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Kim Krizan

Kim Krizan

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Kim Krizan is the Academy Award-nominated writer of the films "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset."

Her book Original Sins: Trade Secrets of the Femme Fatale is a tongue-in-cheek examination of history's dangerous women. She is also the author of Spy in the House of Anais Nin, an analysis of the life of the 20th century rule-bending diarist.

Krizan's work has been hailed as insightful, soulful, penetrating, and profound. She lives and writes in Los Angeles, California.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
77 global ratings
Honest
5 Stars
Honest
At last, a book that is worthy of Anais Nin, her scholars, and the people that love her. Krizan tells it like it is. Unlike other books written about, this book is neither sycophantic nor judgemental, Krizan says it like it is. An articulated and honest account of the complexed life of Anais Nin and particularly with the men she loved and with whom she shared her life with. Krizan's candid yet respectful to approach Nin's controversial relationship with her father is both sensitive and brave. She shows us a fair and portrayal of a woman who lived her life on her terms. A steel hummingbird. I would highly recommend this book. Congratulations Ms. Krizan, on giving Anais Nin the justice she so well deserves!
Hide
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

Thea Wirsching
5.0 out of 5 stars Fresh perspective on a controversial figure
Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2020
Verified Purchase
When Kim Krizan launched Spy in the House of Anais Nin last year with a signing at Book Soup, a number of my friends told me about the event and encouraged me to attend, and now I'm kicking myself for not dragging myself out of the house on a Thursday! I really enjoyed this book. I thought I knew everything there was to know about Nin, but Krizan shares morsel after morsel of nuanced info about this controversial figure, culled from her thorough investigation of Nin's diaries and unpublished letters. These range from the mundane (an inventory of Nin's expensive outfits) to the legacy-transforming (Krizan's substantive rebuttal to the charge that Nin was apolitical). I think what I enjoyed most about this book was Krizan's empathy for the brilliant, transgressive, and daring mortal that Nin was. Krizan shows how feminism, conventionally understood, is not a useful frame for interpreting Nin, but also balances her assessment of Nin's "lies" with a reminder of how tightly constrained women's sexual expression was in the first half of the twentieth century. If you're looking for the antidote to the prudishness of Deirdre Bair's biography on Nin, this book is it! Krizan manages to honor Nin as an artist and visionary while still acknowledging her bad behavior. She also gives Nin credit for imagining the world we live in today, where the sort of four-alarm personal disclosures of her diary have become normalized on the internet - the "Cafe in Space" dreamed by Nin. A Spy in the House of Anais Nin is also a great starter book on Nin if you're new to her; Krizan weaves a standard bio of the writer through her essays on more specialized topics. Recommend!
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
L. Dicken
4.0 out of 5 stars Additional Insights
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2020
Verified Purchase
The author gave additional insights into the life of Nin. This was an easy read and enjoyable. I would recommend.
Helpful
 Report
Rebeca
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and Compelling Bio
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2021
Verified Purchase
Kim Krizan's book does Anais Nin justice! As a Nin scholar, I am usually let down by the biographies available. However, from the start, Krizan's book is different. It is insightful, complex, and respectful of the wonderful woman Anais Nin was. I feel like Krizan truly allows the reader to learn about Nin in more depth than ever, and gently unfolds Nin's mysterious and beautiful world.

The book truly feels like a gift, and I did not want it to end. Krizan adds a contemporary lens to Anais Nin, and I enjoy also, getting to know Krizan through the text. I highly recommend this text to those interested in Anais Nin's life. I wish I had found this one sooner.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
David L
3.0 out of 5 stars Good in parts
Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2023
For me, the best parts of this uneven book were the previously unpublished quotations from Nin's diaries and letters, which may even be indispensable reading for people in search of a deeper picture of Nin. But I found the remainder of the book poorly written and seemingly unedited, full of repetition, platitudes, and bad grammar. Caveat emptor!
Helpful
 Report
S.Marie
5.0 out of 5 stars Anaïs herself would be proud of this stylish conveyance
Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2019
Verified Purchase
Through her insightful literary analysis and the instincts of an investigative reporter, Kim Krizan creates for the reader a gestalt which, in addition to illuminating new depths into the fascinating life and relationships of Anais Nin, provides generational context for Nin’s choices and their relationship to the long slow burn that is the struggle for women’s liberation in western society.
The author is herself present in these pages as a compassionate interpreter, and while instilling every confidence in the historical accuracy of the information relayed, does so transparently and with a self-awareness too often absent in the scholarly articles by which history is blindly bent to the personal biases of those doing the writing.
9 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Pepper
5.0 out of 5 stars Great exploration of and accompaniment to the Diaries if Anais Nin
Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2019
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed the short essays on Anais Nin. The author has done a good job of Synthesizing a lot of very interesting information about Ms. Nin into easy to read essays that really paint an interesting picture of her that is far more objective than her diaries and have more truthful information as opposed to the subjective experience. I recommend this for anyone who has a deep interest in the life Ms. Nin and wants to really know and understand her life.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Queen of Podcast Zen
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Tribute & Page Turner
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2020
Verified Purchase
I discovered Anaïs Nin in college. This page turner is a beautiful tribute to Nin and her life's work!!
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
BookCat
1.0 out of 5 stars Fatuous Flattery
Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2021
Verified Purchase
People who write books to name drop, and think they ‘know’ a famous person because they got to root through their personal effects posthumously are just flat-out boring.
All that snooping and simpering didn’t make a good story or book, nor reveal anything we didn’t already know about Nin. For all her so-called credentials, this author’s ‘scholarship’ can’t hold a candle to Deidre Bair’s research into and biography of Nin. At least Bair wasn’t a fluttering sycophant like this author was toward Rupert Pole in particular. This is just another of the ‘Nin-nies’ writing another boring, useless book.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Bossi Stefano
5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST READ FOR ANAÏS NIN FANS, AND NOT ONLY FOR THEM
Reviewed in Italy on July 5, 2020
Verified Purchase
“I had just experienced my own traumatic loss and this may have been why her story spoke to me. My observation is this: people who are attracted to Anaïs Nin’s diaries are often experiencing their own possibly violent uprootings and forced new starts.” This is what Kim Krizan wrote in the introduction of this beautiful book “A spy in the house of Anaïs Nin” and to me that’s really true. I guess this is what was happening to me when I started reading Nin’s book in the early 90’s, in my case not with the Diaries but with “A spy in the house of love”. It happened by chance: I was in a bookstore, I remember, when this book caught my attention. After that, the more I knew about Nin, the more I wanted to know, so I read all her books and many biographies as well. Kim Krizan, writer, academic and Academy award nominated screenwriter, being a board member of the Anaïs Nin foundation, had the chance to read previously unseen documents both at UCLA and at Nin’s L.A. home, and the result is really interesting and original. I really enjoyed this book, I even learnt something new. Highly recommended to Nin fans, but not only to them.
Report
Chris Thompson
5.0 out of 5 stars Filters Anais Nin through a contemporary lens to shed new light on her work and the world today
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 12, 2020
Verified Purchase
I’ve always been aware of Anais Nin, but only really delved into her work a couple of years ago. I came across the first volume of her journals and just kept reading ... it was electrifying. So open and honest (yet not as honest as I’d later discover), and so beautifully written.

My interest led me to the Anais Nin Foundation on Instagram who were posting unseen photos, quotes and insights on a regular basis. Little did I know Kim Krizan (one of the people behind my favourite films, The Before Series) was curating the posts, and it would culminate in the release of this book, Spy in the House of Anais Nin.

It turns out Krizan had also been enamoured with Anais, and spent years researching her, which led to gaining access to all her private notes and letters. Using these as a basis, Krizan combined them with the work that had already been released to create one of the freshest and most extensive looks beneath the surface of this enigmatic figure.

The real strength of ‘Spy’ (outside of the way Krizan uncovers previously unknown facts about Nin and those around her) is the way she presents Anais’ work to convey insights about the world today. Did you know, for example, that she foresaw the world of the Internet? In that way Krizan acts as a medium, channelling Nin’s words to speak directly to contemporary issues - including social media, privacy, and the realities of modern feminism. It’s this sharp insight that really adds something to the canon, and makes this far more than just another examination of Anais Nin (although even those are few and far between).

Whether you’re a budding Nin scholar, or someone who’s looking to take their first steps, this is a wonderful overview of Anais Nin that will provoke further thoughts long afterwards, and have you hunting for me. As for me, it’s got me hunting for more work by Kim Krizan, who has proven herself to be an intelligence on par with Nin, and elevated this to a sort of ‘conversation’ between the two writers. I can’t wait to see what comes next.
Report
Ally Kadmos
5.0 out of 5 stars BEAUTIFULLY CRAFTED ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE OF ANAÏS NIN
Reviewed in Australia on December 1, 2019
Verified Purchase
Academy Award Nominee Kim Krizan, the creator of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset movies, is a Board Member of the Anaïs Nin Foundation. Her recent book, SPY in the House of ANAÏS NIN, brings us a beautiful and heartfelt in-depth look at the truths, the lies and secrets of Anaïs' life and writing, her diaries, novels, short stories and erotica. Kim’s lengthy research and admittance to Anaïs' home, in which she had access to previously unseen documents, led to Kim’s time as a Spy in the House of Anaïs Nin.

Kim profoundly exposes Nin as the true feminist she was and her extraordinary life, loves, friends and passions. In the book, Kim highlights the intensity of Anaïs' tendency to walk tall and ‘march to the beat of her own drum’ and with sensitivity she exposes Anaïs who has been deprived of her status as a Feminist Icon by many who wished to extinguish her flame.

I loved this book with it's rare insight into the life and writing of Anaïs Nin, her joys, her passions and her heartbreaks. Kim Krizan reveals Anaïs' sensitivite sensuality, and she captures the true essence of Nin's heightened awareness of soul, heart, the senses and physical body.

Thank you, Kim, for providing me with the opportunity to join you in your spying in the house of Anaïs Nin.

Ally Kadmos
One person found this helpful
 Report
Kendalian
1.0 out of 5 stars Poorly conceived examination of the life of Anais Nin
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 3, 2022
Verified Purchase
This collection of articles/ essays is far removed from the academic examination of Nin’s work and life that I had hoped for. Maybe some would argue that Nin deserves the low standard of biographical accounts written about her, but I believe there will be a time when her work and life will be taken seriously and a quality book that examines her life through her diaries and written prose will one day be written. Sadly in “Spy in the House of Anais Nin” we learn more about Kim Krizan than we do about Nin and I always contend that the sign of a good museum or gallery is when you only notice the content, not the building. These poorly put together articles are judgmental, entirely subjective and lack any references to back up the many claims Krizan makes about Nin.
If you know nothing about Nin and only want a few short superficial repetitive essays, of a kind you would find in any discarded waiting room magazine, this may be the book for you, but if you have read Nin and want a serious academic study, then this is a work to avoid.
Report
KetoInThe.UK
3.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction and dive into Anaïs Nin
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2022
Verified Purchase
Kim Krizan clearly knows the entire body of work of Anais Nïn in depth and has had access to some unpublished material that helps recontextualise the life and work of one of the most talked about women of the 20th century
Report