book data
1213 ratings, 3.75 average rating, 66 reviews
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published
October 25th 1992
(first published 2006)
by Penguin Books Ltd
binding
Paperback, 144 pages
isbn
0140184716
(isbn13: 9780140184716)
description
Evocative and superbly erotic, Little Birds is a powerful journey into the mysterious world of sex and sensuality. From the beach towns of Normandy to...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1514)
Read in January, 1980
recommends it for:
adults interested in intelligent erotica
This book, along with it's companion book (they run together in my mind and am talking about both here), Delta of Venus, are wonderfully evocotive erotic stories. They are never the wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am stuff of porn magazines. Sometimes magical, sometimes freaky, with a European sensibility, these stories are softly spellbinding. I can't help but get caught up in them whenever I pick up these books. Elena, Pierre, Leila, the Basque and Bijou, what a cool group of characters! And ther...more
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Read in April, 2008
The best thing about Anais Nin is her name. So melodic.
And she was a great writer, however:
This book was not like her other writing I've read. It wasn't beautiful. Every erotic situation was simply explained like a list. It reminded me of the plain language version of state tests that our ELL students take. The writing was bland.
Also, there were a couple of titillating situations, but it started off with a pedophile (the recruits-schoolgirls-into-his-apartment-with-exotic-birds typ...more
And she was a great writer, however:
This book was not like her other writing I've read. It wasn't beautiful. Every erotic situation was simply explained like a list. It reminded me of the plain language version of state tests that our ELL students take. The writing was bland.
Also, there were a couple of titillating situations, but it started off with a pedophile (the recruits-schoolgirls-into-his-apartment-with-exotic-birds typ...more
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Read in August, 2007
Anais Nin is in no way a contemporary of Henry Miller! Maybe it's my narrow view of things (and my first time at reading erotica) but it's really not that good. Her stories are short and bland and unstimulating. Even the language is simple. I don't aruge that she's a good writer (I believe she is) but the only thing I found remarkable about the book was the preface in which she describes how hard it is to focus solely on eroticism and how it changes your life. I may give one of her other books a...more
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Read in January, 1982
I was a kid when I discovered this on someone's bookshelf and spirited it away. My love of erotica was born...or grew up, because now that I think about it, I was much younger when I reread the spanking scene from Tom Sawyer with great relish and shame. My five star books are ones that left a deep impression, and Anais Nin's fantastic, nasty little sensual wanderings certainly made a mark on me.
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I think I only read this because I thought I should, as if it's required reading for people who like sex.
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i thought this would be more powerful one way or another than it turned out to be. she's famous as a writer of erotica, but i thought her stories were unexceptional and not the least bit shocking by comparison with some of her contemporaries (henry miller comes to mind). to be fair to nin, i thought she was a much, much better writer than henry miller, who i think gets a lot of credit for being brilliant where he was just being shocking (and shockingly self-absorbed). someday i want to track dow...more
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The titular story in this book comes first and it's worth picking the book up for. Her introduction is also worth the glance. She credits all the poor underfed waif genius man children she picked up in the Bowery to take home and fuck as inspiration... but the again after reading the rest of it it could be construed as an insult. Jerking off to Anais can be a bit taxing if you loathe boring hetero dynamics and gay shame bullshit. However, when looking at her work in the lens of her personal lif...more
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Read in September, 2008
This book was interesting. I was surprised to come across it while browsing at the library. Who knew? I had read Delta of Venus years ago and remember thinking that it was interesting (and informative), but that the writing style felt a little stiff. I have found that I still feel that way, but that I had missed the insight into our natures that really are what make the work enduring.
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Read in January, 1987
recommends it for:
Adults, ladies in particular
I am a huge fan of the short story as an art form, and this first published collection of Anais nin's erotic stories is my favorite of her work.
the tales are short, evocative and sexy. Its rather demure by modern standards, but the language is lovely and romantic, without being too precious. she is also a fan of beautiful boys, and makes no bones in describing them.
the tales are short, evocative and sexy. Its rather demure by modern standards, but the language is lovely and romantic, without being too precious. she is also a fan of beautiful boys, and makes no bones in describing them.
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Read in January, 2008
This unusual compilation was written as a form of literary prostitution. Nin "needed the money" and NY was "harder and more cruel". She became involved with a group of writers of erotica. This compilation of lurid tales was penned by a woman "driven by necessity", or so she says. Very detailed, very French without any inhibitions at all...
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I think this chick's really overrated, maybe she just sucked up some star power because she was banging Henry Miller (but really, in those days, who wasn't?). Slightly entertain for it's weirdness, but it's got that feeling of "ooh, look how free I am, I'm free to express my real self," but her real self just isn't interesting.
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
People who like real literature and Erotica
Im still reading this one, read Left of Delta 13 years ago and really enjoyed it,...its close to COlete in style but , well, lets jus say COlete goes porno-ish...Really plays with different concepts to give ore texture to the human sexuality based in the early 1900's urban capitals..
Defff a bood to keep by your bed...
Defff a bood to keep by your bed...
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Something called out to me and told me to pick this book off of the shelf of an old book store in Baltimore when I was in boarding school... My curiosity led me to purchase it, and later I was drawn in by the delicious and mesmerizing language Nin executes so effectively and beautifully.
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Read in May, 2008
Imagine a volume of erotica that is more often about unfulfillment than fulfillment, dissects the virgin/slut images woman (still!) face in defining their sexual identities and offers up a healthy side of lesbian sex. Yep, this is the good stuff.
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Read in January, 2000
Because I went through a Henry Miller phase I thought I would read some of his lovah's work as well. At the time this was the only Anais Nin book in the bookstore where I was working. It was...okay. Erotica is not my thing, though, so who am I to judge?
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Read in January, 1994
I read this collection of stories while on a train from Amsterdam back to Germany in 1994. I was living there at the time. If you already have a vivid imagination, I would recommend avoiding a public train as a venue for enjoying the stories.
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Read in January, 1988
recommends it for:
adults only
Anais Nin was naughty! Erotica set in Paris in the 20's, with painters and prostitutes and anonymous encounters in short stories designed to enflame the reader's imagination.
This is a companion volume to Nin's Delta of Venus.
This is a companion volume to Nin's Delta of Venus.
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I feel her best work were her diaries. Her erotica literature is decent, even when her writing is not very good comparatively she is superior to many. Little Birds is worth reading but don't expect the power of her diaries.
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recommends it for:
Lana Martin
Anais Nin is one of the greatest French authors.
This lady knows about MEN and WOMEN. She knows them outside and inside. The fact that this is labelled as EROTICA shouldn't keep anybody from reading it.
This lady knows about MEN and WOMEN. She knows them outside and inside. The fact that this is labelled as EROTICA shouldn't keep anybody from reading it.
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erotica (on 46 people's shelves)
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short-stories (on 12 people's shelves)
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erotica (on 46 people's shelves)
fiction (on 42 people's shelves)
currently-reading (on 34 people's shelves)
short-stories (on 12 people's shelves)
own (on 9 people's shelves)
classics (on 7 people's shelves)
2008 (on 6 people's shelves)
erotic (on 3 people's shelves)
favorites (on 3 people's shelves)
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