Contemporary Authors

• The New Diary: How to Use a Journal for Self-Guidance and Expanded Creativity Jeremy P. Tarcher (Los Angeles, CA), 1978
• Your Life as Story: Writing the New Autobiography G.P. Putnam's Sons (New York, NY), 1997
• Apprenticed to Venus: My Secret Life with Anaïs Nin Arcade (New York, NY), 2017

1. Apprenticed to Venus : my secret life with Anaïs Nin LCCN 2017032162 Type of material Book Personal name Rainer, Tristine, author. Main title Apprenticed to Venus : my secret life with Anaïs Nin / Tristine Rainer. Edition First edition. Published/Produced New York : Arcade Publishing, [2017] Description 368 pages ; 24 cm ISBN 9781628727784 (hardback) CALL NUMBER PS3527.I865 Z84 2017 Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms 2. The new diary : how to use a journal for self-guidance and expanded creativity LCCN 2004048096 Type of material Book Personal name Rainer, Tristine. Main title The new diary : how to use a journal for self-guidance and expanded creativity / Tristine Rainer ; pref. by Anaïs Nin. Published/Created New York : Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, c2004. Description xii, 308 p. : ill. ; 21 cm. ISBN 0874771501 (alk. paper) CALL NUMBER RC489.D5 R34 2004 Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms CALL NUMBER RC489.D5 R34 2004 FT MEADE Copy 2 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms - STORED OFFSITE 3. The new diary : how to use a journal for self-guidance and expanded creativity LCCN 76062677 Type of material Book Personal name Rainer, Tristine. Main title The new diary : how to use a journal for self-guidance and expanded creativity / Tristine Rainer ; pref. by Anaïs Nin. Published/Created Los Angeles : J. P. Tarcher ; New York : distributed by St. Martin's Press, c1978. Description 323 p. : ill. ; 22 cm. ISBN 0874770610. 0312907362 (St. Martin's Press) : CALL NUMBER RC489.D5 R34 1978 Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms 4. Your life as story : discovering the "new autobiography" and writing memoir as literature LCCN 98010091 Type of material Book Personal name Rainer, Tristine. Main title Your life as story : discovering the "new autobiography" and writing memoir as literature / Tristine Rainer. Edition 1st Trade Paperback ed. Published/Created New York : Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 1998. Description xii, 353 p. : ill. ; 23 cm. ISBN 0874779227 (alk. paper) CALL NUMBER CT25 .R34 1998 Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms 5. Your life as story : writing the new autobiography LCCN 96041764 Type of material Book Personal name Rainer, Tristine. Main title Your life as story : writing the new autobiography / Tristine Rainer. Published/Created New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, c1997. Description xii, 353 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. ISBN 0874778611 (acid-free paper) CALL NUMBER CT25 .R35 1997 Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms

• Center for Autobiographic Studies - http://www.centerautobio.org/about-tristine/

  About the Founder and Director
  Tristine Rainer has had dual careers as a pioneer and expert in the fields of contemporary diary and memoir writing and as an executive, producer and writer of television movies.

  Early academic work
  In 1972 when Rainer was a grad student at UCLA she co-founded the university’s Women’s Studies program and taught the first course offered on women writers, funded by Curriculum and Educational Development. In 1974 she taught as a Lecturer at Indiana University in Bloomington, and in 1975 she joined the faculty of International College in Los Angeles, where she co-taught a writing class with her mentor Anaïs Nin.

  Diary writing
  In 1978 Tristine Rainer’s book The New Diary: How to Use a Journal for Self-guidance and Expanded Creativity (Tarcher/Penguin-Random, 1978, updated 2004) was published with a preface by Anaïs Nin. It popularized contemporary journal writing and created its lexicon. Never out of print in the States, The New Diary has been translated into many European languages, and published in Korea (2011) and China (2012).

  Television and Film
  Rainer’s first job in the television business was as a Development Executive at Dan Curtis Productions in 1979. After several other development jobs, in 1984 she became President of Grand Central Films, a co-venture for international co-productions between Thames Television and D.L.Taffner. As an independent producer she nurtured projects from conception to broadcast under her own banner: Games Mother Never Taught You, producer (CBS, Loretta Swit, Sam Waterston), Having it All, producer (ABC, Dyan Cannon) Secrets of a Married Man, executive producer (NBC, William Shatner, Cybill Sheppard) and Forbidden Nights, executive producer, screenplay writer (CBS, Melissa Gilbert). Her films won awards for their non-stereotypical portrayals of women and minorities.

  Memoir writing
  Having gained experiential knowledge in shaping true-life stories for a wide audience, Rainer wrote Your Life as Story: Discovering the New Autobiography and Writing Memoir as Literature (1997, Tarcher/ Penguin-Random, 1997) to teach others how to see and share the universals of story structure within their unique life events. She returned to teaching and lecturing, creating the first autobiographic writing course for UCLA Extension (1996), the first autobiographic film course for University of Hawaii (2003), and the first memoir class in the USC Masters of Professional Writing Program, where for 11 years she was a faculty member until 2010. Rainer has coached many authors to publication, including New York Times bestseller and MacArthur genius award winner Elyn Saks, The Center Cannot Hold (Hyperion, 2007).

  Upcoming Book
  As founder and Director of the Center for Autobiographic Studies, a 501c3 since 1997, Rainer promotes the creation and preservation of autobiographic works, teaches, lectures and consults. Her own memoir about her relationship with her mentor Anaïs Nin, Apprenticed to Venus, will be published July, 2017 by Arcade Books.

  A partial list of published memoirs on which Tristine Rainer provided editorial consultation:
  The Center Cannot Hold, my journey through madness, by Elyn R. Saks. Hyperion, NY 2007

  Not A Happy Camper by Mindy Schneider, Grove Press, NY 2007

  Except for One Little Problem, memoir of a Life in Hiding, by Joan Denson. Barricade, 2001

  Car Camping by Mark Sundeen, Harper Collins Pub NY, 2000

  Apprentice to the Dawn a spiritual memoir, by James C. Ingebretsen, The Philosophical Research society, 2003

  Strange As It Seems: The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler by Chip Jacobs, Rare Bird Books, CA 2016

  In the Wings, a Memoir by Diana Douglas, Barricade Books,1999

  The Vulture’s Wisdom, Larry Coralli as told to Jan Lawhon Dean & Franklin, 2002

  The Last Pachuco by Ray Elizondo, Autumn Leaf press 2007

  Siren’s Feast, an Edible Odyssey by Nancy Mehagian, Cielo press,2008

  For a Dancer, the memoir by Emma Stephens, Saint Columba Press, 2011

  A Hidden Madness by James T.R. Jones, 2011.

  Bobo’s Daughter by Bonnie Ann Barnett, Morris publishing, 2001

  Stolen Hours (breaking free from Secret Addictions) by John Howard Prin, Syren Book Company, 2004

  Imagining Liza, memoir of a fan by Beverly Raffensperger Fauvre Hawthorne Publishing Westfield, IN 2000

  Becoming Alice, a memoir, by Alice Rene iUniverse, Lincoln NE 2006

  Shades of Justice by Paul Krehbiel, Autumn Leaf Press, 2008

  The Last Mad Lover, by Howard Ross, Publish America, 2006

  Hairy Arms and Unibrows, by Aida Radfar, self-published, 2017

  Too Smart to be a Girl, by Dr. Nancy Bennett, self-published, 2017

  Split at the Root: A Memoir of Love and Lost Identity, by Catana Tully, self-published, 2012 (Amazon Top 100 in Family Relationships > Parent & Adult Child)

  Apprenticed to Venus
  (Coming July 2017)
  Tristine Rainer’s own memoir about her relationship with her mentor Anaïs Nin, Apprenticed to Venus, will be published July, 2017 by Arcade Books.

  An intimate look at the intricacies―and risks―of the female mentor-protégé relationship, Apprenticed to Venus stories her deep friendship, for good or ill, with a pivotal historical figure.

  “…a spicy and saucy hybrid of memoir and novel.” KIRKUS

  “Rainer blends memoir and imagination in this engaging examination of her relationship with author Anaïs Nin . . . a fascinating personal journey.” PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY

  PREORDER NOW

  The New Diary
  Brings the Journal into the Digital Age with a New Preface, Examples and Exercises.

  Over 200,000 copies sold.

  The New Diary: How to Use a Journal for Self-guidance and Expanded Creativity. 1979, 2004 New Edition.

  “Perceptive and readable from start to finish.” PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY

  “…extensively researched, useful…all you’ve wanted to know…” LA TIMES

  “…a perceptive and revolutionary work that will share the immense wealth of new knowledge…with all those who are seeking inner harmony and creative freedom.” Anais Nin

  BUY NOW

  Your Life as Story: Writing the New Autobiography
  LA Times Bestseller List

  Your Life as Story: Discovering the New Autobiography and Writing Memoir as Literature. 1997, trade paper ‘98

  “…in the author’s tips on how to define one’s personal mythology, together with tools offered for creating the actual structure of one’s story…a great case is made for the importance of pursuing the threads of a life…” BOOKLIST, March ’97

  “Rainer is an excellent guide.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, Jan. 27, ’97

  As reviewed by Cultural Information Service: “Tristine Rainer presents an exhilarating overview of the latest literary trend…The best book available on the subject.”

  BUY NOW
  VISIT TRISTINE RAINER’S AUTHOR PAGEFOLLOW TRISTINE ON FACEBOOK
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• Tristine Rainer - http://tristinerainer.com/about-tristine/

  About Tristine
  Tristine Rainer is a recognized expert on diary and memoir writing and the author of two renowned classics on autobiographic writing continuously in print: The New Diary (with a preface by Anaïs Nin) and Your Life as Story.

  Her mentor Anais Nin wrote the preface to Tristine’s first book The New Diary, calling it revolutionary. Published the year of Nin’s death, 1977, The New Diary popularized contemporary journal writing and created its lexicon. According to Amazon, after hundreds of offshoot books on journaling, thirty-eight years later it is still the bestselling book on journal writing.

  In the 1970’s Rainer taught literature and writing in the English departments at UCLA and Indiana University, co-founded the Women’s Studies Program at UCLA, and created that university’s first Women’s Lit courses. Shortly after the publication of The New Diary, she threw caution to the wind and pursued a dream that had been rooting in her – to become an academy award winning feature director! That didn’t happen. She did become a development exec and a writer/​producer of award winning movies for television: Games Mother Never Taught You (CBS, Loretta Swit, Sam Waterston), Having it All (ABC, Dyan Cannon) Secrets of a Married Man (NBC, William Shatner, Cybill Sheppard) and Forbidden Nights (CBS, Melissa Gilbert). It wasn’t the same thing.

  In the trenches, though, she gained experiential knowledge in shaping true-life stories for a wide audience. A new goal emerged – to teach others how to see and share the universals of story structure within their unique life events. In 1997 she published Your Life as Story: Discovering the New Autobiography and Writing Memoir as Literature (Tarcher/​Penguin-Random.) The book anticipated the rise of contemporary memoir writing, and Tristine returned to lecturing and university teaching, at University of Hawaii and for eleven years as a faculty member in the Masters of Professional Writing Program at USC. Privately, Tristine has coached many authors to publication, including New York Times bestseller and MacArthur genius award winner Elyn Saks, The Center Will Not Hold (Hyperion, 2007). As founder and Director of the Center for Autobiographic Studies, a 501 C3 since 1997, Rainer promotes the creation and preservation of autobiographic works, teaches, lectures and consults.

• Huffington Post - https://www.huffingtonpost.com/lily-koppel/in-a-blog-age-the-endurin_b_111788.html

  HuffPost
  EDITION
  US
  THE BLOG 07/18/2008 05:12 am ET Updated Dec 06, 2017
  In a Blog Age: The Enduring Power of the Handwritten Word

  By Lily Koppel
  In our era of celebrity, where every life is made public through email, blogs and Facebook, one of the greatest oddities may be that there is not a livelier discussion about the individual’s basic need for a more private space.

  This is a question I have pondered while on book tour with The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal, about my discovery of a young woman’s diary, kept in the 1930s, rescued from a steamer trunk in a dumpster outside of my Manhattan apartment building, and its return to Florence Wolfson Howitt, its owner, at 90.

  Two kindred spirits, separated by seventy-five years, a nonagenarian and a 27-year-old writer, Florence and I have been connecting with readers and people on self-discovery quests of their own. Before the advent of self help sections in mega-bookstores, Florence recorded her search for self, on her diary’s gold-edged pages, in blue and black ink.

  The Red Leather Diary traveled to Denver recently for The Power of Writing Journal Conference, bringing together hundreds of journal writers from across the globe to explore what it means to record one’s life. The sub culture falls between the book club and the yoga mat, but speaks to the enduring power of the handwritten word.

  Writers, librarians, holistic healers, life coaches were in attendance, along with professionals certified by — who would have guessed — the National Federation for Biblio/Poetry Therapy, which has provided the credentials for those who have carved out careers leading journal writing and journal therapy groups.

  Pen wielding women with colorful books filled the ballroom of the Sheraton Denver West. Some looked deceivingly like knitting circle ladies. One young woman had a diary entry tattoo. There was talk of bones, books, parchment, and writing on cave walls as the original diary. Attendees were reminded that Sappho’s poems were found stuffed into the throat of a dried out alligator in a mummy’s tomb, her words tweezed out by Egyptologists.

  2008-07-10-photo7.jpg

  A woman writing in her journal at the conference.

  Journaling was likened to deep sea diving. Joseph Campbell’s “follow your bliss” was invoked. Many in attendance treat journaling as a spiritual practice, a path to self enlightenment, which, of course, philosophers have been doing for ages.

  Michael Blumenthal, the award-winning poet, was there. “I’m usually really cynical about things like this,” he said, leaning back in his chair under the ballroom’s chandeliers, “But I’m here.” One of his poems, “The New Story of Your Life,” which prefaces The Story of Your Life by Dan Wakefield, has generated for him a devoted readership of diary keepers.

  Scholars point to the first diaries being kept by Japanese ladies of the court around the year 1000, known as “pillow books.” Keats was a diarist as were Ben Franklin and Kurt Cobain. Parallels have been made between journaling and the Surrealists experimenting with automatic writing in the cafes of Paris in the early-1920s.

  Despite the mass migration online to chronicle daily dramas via email and on blogs, journaling today is a multibillion dollar industry with makers like Hallmark, Moleskine, Filofax, and evidenced in the piles of blank books for sale near the cash register at Barnes & Noble and Wal-Mart.

  In an internet poll on About.com, Kathleen Adams, a licensed psychotherapist and a registered poetry/journal therapist who lives in Denver, was listed alongside Anais Nin and Anne Frank, as one of the three most significant influences on contemporary journal keeping. With over a 500 journals in her personal archive, Ms. Adams, who is the author of several books, including Journal to the Self, organized the conference with workshops such as: “What If Your Life Were a Novel?”, “Write Your Memoir and Still Get Invited Home for the Holidays,” “Journal Magic: Potions for Self-Discovery.”

  Tristine Rainer, 63, the director of the Center for Autobiographic Studies, teaches writing at the University of Southern California, and was a close friend of Anais Nin, gave the keynote speech, entitled, “Anais Nin and the Destiny of Diaries.” Ms. Rainer first encountered Ms. Nin when she was 18, through her own godmother who lived in New York, who sounds very much like a fairy godmother. The prolific diarist was also known for her erotica and her relationship with Henry Miller.

  What is the future of diaries?

  “The Internet has become one huge diary of the human race,” said Ms. Rainer very matter-of-factly. According to her, this may be cause for concern. In celebrity culture, where one is defined from the outside in, as with Facebook and social networking sites, she is skeptical of whether one has the opportunity—and time—to form an inner self.

  “Looking at yourself from the outside in is what blogs reinforce,” explained Ms. Rainer, who has a distaste of celebrity for the same reason. “It’s actually dangerous,” she said. “Can blogs do what a private diary can do? If I had to give an answer, I’d say no.”

  In diary writing, Ms. Rainer maintains a profound breakthrough occurs when by looking deeply into one’s self, the individual comes out with the realization of their common humanity and connection to the universe.

  Where is the quiet space, the stage where you are the lone performer, audience and critic, which the diary provides?

  2008-07-10-photo8.jpg

  Lily Koppel’s diaries and original Red Leather Diary.

  For the future, Ms. Rainer hopes to see a physical world-wide library of diaries, which she called, “A great library of the self.” “The diary library,” like the Library of Congress, could also be housed in local branch libraries, so that if one moved to a new city, they could read and learn, perhaps from the person who lived in their apartment a century ago (which is essentially what happened with Florence and me.)

  Ms. Rainer was a pioneer in the therapeutic writing movement with her 1978 book, The New Diary. Other influential figures in journaling include Ira Progroff, who developed the Intensive Journal Method, and Christina Baldwin, who was at the conference.

  “Stories build bridges,” Ms. Baldwin lectured in her workshop, “The Thread We Follow.” “You’re a fractal of me. We’re all in the well together.” The primordial ink well, that is. In her book Storycatcher, she begins, “Every person is born into life a blank page-and every person leaves life as a full book.”

  Ms. Baldwin sees her work with journaling as an outgrowth of the feminist movement. Historically, she said, journal writing was a very private and vulnerable act. Today, of course, women don’t have to hide their diaries and they are less likely to be in pastel colors with tiny keys.

  Ms. Baldwin summed up the assumption, which she believes is the bedrock of every blog: “Of course I have a voice and I want to hear it!” She believes some take for granted the trail she and countless others blazed.

  James Pennebaker, a research psychologist, spoke about scientifically proven health benefits of writing, like research showing how writing about a traumatic experience helps wounds heal faster. When people write about emotional upheavals, their blood pressure is lowered and their use of health care facilities decreases. Writing helps combat depression and raises self-esteem.

  “Writing effects peoples brains,” said Mr. Pennebaker, who is a professor at the University of Texas. “After people write, there are changes in their brain waves. It’s related to emotions.” To his audience’s stunned delight, he added, “duh.”

  A tall gray-haired woman in the audience, Cyncie Winter, spoke about her work using expressive writing to treat posttraumatic stress with soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Wendy Thompson, an arts educator, has used journaling as a coping tool with children of suspected “undocumented” workers on a Del Monte fruit plant in Portland, whose parents were taken away during a home raid in the middle of the night by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

  “Writing something down simplifies it,” said Mr. Pennebaker, explaining the process of why writing about trauma makes it manageable. He said that while poetry encapsulates an experience, “grabs it,” he argued that “Poetry is not nearly as healthy as prose writing.” He added, “Prose forces us to integrate our experiences.”

  The only sound to be heard was a room full of pens making their way across paper.
  —
  Check out The Red Leather Diary trailer below.

  For more information on Lily Koppel and her book, The Red Leather Diary, please visit her website: RedLeatherDiary.com.

  For a recent review, visit: http://www.bookslut.com/nonfiction/2008_07_013124.php

  The New York Times Book Review: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/books/review/Newhouse-t.html

  Follow Lily Koppel on Twitter: www.twitter.com/lilykoppel

  Lily Koppel
  Bestselling author of The Astronaut Wives Club and The Red Leather Diary
  MORE:

  Blogs Florence Wolfson The Red Leather Diary Lily Koppel Ny Times Red Leather Diary Lily Koppel
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• Life Journal - https://www.lifejournal.com/articles/an-interview-with-tristine-rainer/

  QUOTED: "The New Autobiography is a twentieth century liberation of the genre of memoir. It is a form of creative non-fiction that has become very popular in the last five years. No longer the exclusive privilege of the famous or infamous, the luxury of established writers, or simply a hobby for grandparents, New Autobiography is available to everyone. It is a redefinition of who may write about their lives, whom they write for, the reasons they write, how they write, ... what they write about, and what they do with the writing."

  An Interview with Tristine Rainer

  Author or THE NEW DIARY and YOUR LIFE AS STORY

  Tristine Rainer is the author of The New Diary and Your Life as Story; both books are important volumes in personal writing libraries. She has answered several questions that LifeJournal posed about writing an autobiography. Below are Ms. Rainer’s responses:
  Q: Your book Your Life as Story focuses on writing a New Autobiography. What do you mean by the term “New Autobiography?”
  A: The New Autobiography is a twentieth century liberation of the genre of memoir. It is a form of creative non-fiction that has become very popular in the last five years. No longer the exclusive privilege of the famous or infamous, the luxury of established writers, or simply a hobby for grandparents, New Autobiography is available to everyone. It is a redefinition of who may write about their lives, whom they write for, the reasons they write, how they write (using all the literary devices of fiction), what they write about, and what they do with the writing.
  Q: How do you begin the task of writing an autobiography or memoir?
  A: There are many ways to begin. As a memoir coach I find that some people without a plan start writing memories that develop into little stories. They come to me when they have accumulated a number of such pieces and we begin by looking for the story and themes in what is already there, much like assembling the overall pattern of a quilt.Some writers begin by asking themselves important questions, such as why do I want to write about my life? Who might benefit from it? Who is the intended audience?
  Still other writers begin by using the exercises in my book, Your Life as Story, especially the exercise on page 42, to discover the shape of the story they wish to tell, the unique myth that has been at work inside the life.

  Q: How do you recommend people use journals as a tool for writing an autobiography/memoir?
  A: Generally I suggest that you read through the journals to jog your memory, but that you not try to edit the diaries into a narrative. The voice of the journal will usually be different from the POV [point of view] of the self now. If you have recorded actual conversations and descriptions you may be able to use some of this material. Journals can add concrete details for a memoir, but usually will not give you the coherence of theme and story that require the super-imposition of narrative structure.LifeJournal has some features that are helpful to a journal writer who wishes to tackle an autobiography. The search function allows you to follow your relationship with a particular individual, for instance. You might be able to see the story of a relationship by just reading through the entries about the selected person.
  For some writers, especially those who begin with the quilt method of assembly, it could be helpful to use the Life History Timeline to record memories as they come to you, often out of chronological order. Once you have accumulated individual scenes on the timeline, you may want to read through them chronologically to see if that helps you detect a narrative.

  Q: How does writing a memoir serve as a tool for understanding one’s life better?
  A: Writing a memoir allows you to focus on the shape of your life’s path and learn from its encoded wisdom. When you use the tools of The New Autobiography you may also have the experience of perceiving your own life as a writer would, of seeing your role as the hero of your own story and appreciating the inherent mystery, complexity, and coherence of your particular, once in all time, journey
  Q: What advice can you give to someone who is writing his/her autobiography?
  A: Join or form a memoir group. A number of such writing support groups have self formed around the country in which people use Your Life as Story as a text, much as people formed groups at one time to work through the exercises in Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way.Also discover what published memoirs are in the subgenre of memoir you are writing, e.g. vocational memoir, spiritual memoir, childhood memoir, personal essay, etc. You will find a list of the different “genres of the self” on the Center for Autobiographic Studies website (https://www.storyhelp.com) along with published examples of each. If you read the work of memoirists who have struggled with the form of writing you have chosen, you can learn from their techniques.
  Most important, understand that writing a memoir is a profoundly transforming journey, best written from the point of view of present wisdom. It can be an emotionally consuming experience, so it is valuable to pace yourself and to acquire a knowledge of craft in order to prevent emotional “flooding”.

  Tristine Rainer is the author of a seminal and definitive book on journal writing, The New Diary, how to use a journal for self-guidance and expanded creativity (Tarcher/Penguin Putnam) 1979 that is still in print and has sold over 200,000 copies. Her book Your Life as Story, Discovering the New Autobiography and Writing Memoir as Literature (Tarcher/Penguin/Putnam) 1998 has been used by many writers who have recently completed memoirs. She is a professor in the USC Masters of Professional Writing Program and is the Director of the Center for Autobiographic Studies in Pasadena, California. You can learn more about the Center by going to the website (https://www.storyhelp.com).

QUOTED: "spicy and saucy hybrid of memoir and novel."
"Feminists and fans of Nin's work will enjoy this unique insider's portrait of a complex, pivotal figure in women's liberation."

12/20/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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Print Marked Items
Rainer , Tristine: APPRENTICED TO
VENUS
Kirkus Reviews.
(May 15, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Rainer , Tristine APPRENTICED TO VENUS Arcade (Adult Nonfiction) $25.99 7, 11 ISBN: 978-1-62872-
778-4
Getting to know lust, love, and Anais Nin (1903-1977).In 1962, a month before she turned 18, Rainer (Your
Life as Story, 1997, etc.) met Cuban-born Nin, the noted diarist, famous lover of Henry Miller, and popular
erotica author, at Nin's Greenwich Village apartment while on an errand for her godmother, Lenore Tawney,
the noted fabric artist. Rainer was attending a Catholic high school and still a virgin. She met Nin's
supportive husband, Hugo Guiler, Caresse Crosby, founder of Black Sun Press, and Nin's 30-something
friend Jean-Jacques. In a Delta of Venus manner, the impressionable author describes how she went with
them to a night club, danced, drank, smoked pot, and, later, experienced with Jean-Jacques what
"today...would likely be considered a form of date rape." So begins her spicy and saucy hybrid of memoir
and novel. This gives her the freedom to fictionalize events and encounters whenever she feels it
appropriate. Over the next 15 years, up to Nin's death in 1977, she became a close friend and mentor to
Rainer, encouraging her writing and advising her on lifestyle matters--mostly sexual. Rainer became a
devotee of Nin's philosophy of life: "A woman has an equal right to pleasure as a man." She was dazzled by
Nin's persona, beauty, and sexual history. When Rainer became a college professor--she eventually went on
to co-found the UCLA Women's Studies Program--she was able to have Nin give talks to her students. She
enjoyed her new life of sexual freedom, the parties, new friends, and trips, many to visit Nin's other
husband in California, the "gorgeous" Rupert Pole, getting herself awkwardly involved in Nin's secret, twohusband
juggling act. Over time, she realized that Nin was a "deeply flawed person--a narcissist, a bigamist,
a liar, and a deviant," but she was also "so loveable." Feminists and fans of Nin's work will enjoy this
unique insider's portrait of a complex, pivotal figure in women's liberation.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Rainer , Tristine: APPRENTICED TO VENUS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 May 2017. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A491934155/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=0258555d.
Accessed 20 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A491934155

QUOTED: "Rainer ... candidly and vividly recounts her role in Nin's astoundingly duplicitous life."

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Apprenticed to Venus: My Secret Life with
Anai's Win
Donna Seaman
Booklist.
113.21 (July 1, 2017): p10+.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Apprenticed to Venus: My Secret Life with Anai's Win.
By Tristine Rainer.
July 2017.384p. Arcade, $25.99 (9781628727784). 818.52.
In 1962, Anais Nin, "beautiful and mysterious," was struggling to find footing in America's literary world
when Rainer, about to start college, met her in Greenwich Village, thanks to Rainer's godmother, the artist
Lenore Tawney. Rainer was promptly bewitched, becoming an ardent disciple and reluctant co-conspirator
in the lies that sustained Nin's secret "trapeze" existence as a woman with two husbands: the steadfast
French banker Hugo Guiler in New York, and the much younger, no-less-devoted Californian, Rupert Pole.
Rainer, who became an expert on diaries and memoir, candidly and vividly recounts her role in Nin's
astoundingly duplicitous life in an irresistible mix of fact, memory, and storytelling she calls a "novoir."
Along with fresh insights into gender roles, Rainer offers stunning revelations about the publication of Nin's
cagily edited diaries and the misplaced reverence the writer accrued as a feminist icon. Describing Nin as
"brave and dishonest," and "a visionary of life itself as imaginative theater," Rainer brings this "artist/
goddess," who wrote to "taste life twice," into sharper focus as Nin's unexpurgated diaries continue to be
published.--Donna Seaman
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Seaman, Donna. "Apprenticed to Venus: My Secret Life with Anai's Win." Booklist, 1 July 2017, p. 10+.
General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A499862649/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=74c64014. Accessed 20 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A499862649

QUOTED: "engaging examination of her relationship with author Anaïs Nin."
"Rainer ... manages to take readers on a fascinating personal journey."

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Apprenticed to Venus: My Secret Life with
Anais Nin
Publishers Weekly.
264.17 (Apr. 24, 2017): p78.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Apprenticed to Venus: My Secret Life with Anais Nin
Tristine Rainer. Arcade, $25.99 (384p) ISBN 9781-62872-778-4
Rainer (Your Life as Story) blends memoir and imagination in this engaging examination of her relationship
with author Anai's Nin. "I call this book a novoir--a memoir with true characters and actual dialogue, but
with the structure and stylistic elements of a novel," Rainer says at the outset. Rainer first meets Nin in New
York City in 1962 when her godmother sends her to pick up books from the famous diarist. Sheltered and
virginal when she enters Nin's circle, Rainer is shocked to discover that Nin is a bigamist with husbands on
both coasts, but before long Rainer is covering for her mentor. When Nin's The Diary of Anai's Nin, Vol.
1:1931-1934 is published in 1966, Nin becomes a feminist superstar and icon of the sexual revolution.
Rainer, too, is on her way, pursuing a doctorate in English literature at UCLA, with her mentor happily
speaking to Rainer's undergraduate students. Despite some ruptures between them, the pair remain close up
until Nin's death from cancer in 1977. While the line between truth and imagination in this book is hard to
discern at times, Rainer still manages to take readers on a fascinating personal journey. Agent: Stephany
Evans, FinePrint Literary Management. (July)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Apprenticed to Venus: My Secret Life with Anais Nin." Publishers Weekly, 24 Apr. 2017, p. 78. General
OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A491250848/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=86bef5bc. Accessed 20 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A491250848

QUOTED: "a sophisticated mix of analysis, examples and exercises."
"For those willing to do the work, Rainer is an excellent guide."

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Your Life as Story: Writing the New
Autobiography
Publishers Weekly.
244.4 (Jan. 27, 1997): p86+.
COPYRIGHT 1997 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Writing the New Autobiography Tristine Rainer. Tarcher/Putnam, $24.95 (368p) ISBN 0-87477-861-1
Rainer (The New Diary) claims that this is the "most complete and advanced book" on writing
autobiography, and yes, she backs it up. While it bypasses the most basic questions of craft which would-be
autobiographers must also master--this book includes a sophisticated mix of analysis, examples and
exercises. The "New Autobiography" according to Rainer, borrows the techniques and structure of the
novel--though purists may blanch at her acceptance of nonliteral truth and her inclusion of Pam Houston
and other autobiographical fictioneers. Still, Rainer seems to know storytelling, and she analyzes the
varieties and elements of story structure as well as showing how to vary chronology. She suggests that the
search for an individual voice must precede any attempt to speak for a larger group. Rainer offers good
suggestions on casting characters in a life story, sorting episodes into themes and writing realistic dialogue.
She includes examples from classes she teaches in Southern California, advising other teachers that such
work must be critiqued with great sensitivity. Finally, she provides sensible advice about the publishing
world and how to form a memoir group. For those willing to do the work, Rainer is an excellent guide.
(Apr.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Your Life as Story: Writing the New Autobiography." Publishers Weekly, 27 Jan. 1997, p. 86+. General
OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A19056417/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=ea52bfc6.
Accessed 20 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A19056417

QUOTED: "it is more like a self-help guide to finding peace and self-fulfillment."
"weak on story structure."

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Your Life As Story: Writing the New
Autobiography
Denise S. Sticha
Library Journal.
122.7 (Apr. 15, 1997): p91.
COPYRIGHT 1997 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No
redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
Rainer, Tristine. Tarcher: Putnam. Apr. 1997. c.368p. permanent paper. bibliog. index. LC 96-41764. ISBN
0-87477-861-1. $24.95. COMM
In The New Diary, written 20 years ago Rainer held that the diary as a literary genre is "a tool for personal
growth and for realizing creative potential." This, her latest effort, purports to be a hands-on guide to the
craft of autobiographical writing, but it is more like a self-help guide to finding peace and self-fulfillment.
Rainer defines the new autobiography as "the application of story structure to...life experiences to give them
meaning. It's reading your life as if it were a dream." Her guide is weak on story structure, and only in the
final two chapters and appendixes does she address the mechanics of editing and submission (including
Internet publishing). For Rainer, the motivations of the writer supersede the quality of the writing and the
expectations of the intended audience. Not recommended for serious writing collections, though libraries
with writing groups may want to consider because of the support and encouragement offered to the novice.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Sticha, Denise S. "Your Life As Story: Writing the New Autobiography." Library Journal, 15 Apr. 1997, p.
91. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A20067587/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=7b88012f. Accessed 20 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A20067587

QUOTED: "a compelling sourcebook for all writers interested in putting their life stories down on paper."

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Your Life as Story: Writing the New
Autobiography
Alice Joyce
Booklist.
93.15 (Apr. 1, 1997): p1277.
COPYRIGHT 1997 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Rainer has put together a compelling sourcebook for all writers interested in putting their life stories down
on paper. If a writer happens to be uncertain as to how to go about doing this or believes that some lives do
not merit the effort, Rainer is at once encouraging, forceful, and thoroughly convincing. Genres of
autobiography are discussed, as is the nature of autobiographical writing throughout history. Add in the
author's tips on how to define one's personal mythology, together with tools offered for creating the actual
structure of one's story, and a great case is made for the importance of pursuing the threads of a life to
weave a colorful fabric with words. She shows just how to meld fictional elements with the actual facts of
an individual's life to arrive at a very exciting if no longer terribly new writing genre.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Joyce, Alice. "Your Life as Story: Writing the New Autobiography." Booklist, 1 Apr. 1997, p. 1277.
General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A19311297/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=9f7a55f1. Accessed 20 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A19311297

"Rainer , Tristine: APPRENTICED TO VENUS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 May 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A491934155/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 20 Dec. 2017. Seaman, Donna. "Apprenticed to Venus: My Secret Life with Anai's Win." Booklist, 1 July 2017, p. 10+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A499862649/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 20 Dec. 2017. "Apprenticed to Venus: My Secret Life with Anais Nin." Publishers Weekly, 24 Apr. 2017, p. 78. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A491250848/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 20 Dec. 2017. "Your Life as Story: Writing the New Autobiography." Publishers Weekly, 27 Jan. 1997, p. 86+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A19056417/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 20 Dec. 2017. Sticha, Denise S. "Your Life As Story: Writing the New Autobiography." Library Journal, 15 Apr. 1997, p. 91. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A20067587/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 20 Dec. 2017. Joyce, Alice. "Your Life as Story: Writing the New Autobiography." Booklist, 1 Apr. 1997, p. 1277. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A19311297/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF. Accessed 20 Dec. 2017.

• Life Journal
  https://www.lifejournal.com/articles/the-new-diary-book-revie-tristine-rainer/
  Word count: 289

  QUOTED: "The New Diary would be valuable to those looking for a thorough and scholarly review of journal writing."

  The New Diary: How to Use a Journal for Self-Guidance and Expanded Creativity by Tristine Rainer

  Book Review by Ruth Folit

  The New Diary: How to Use a Journal for Self-Guidance and Expanded Creativity by Tristine Rainer is a must have book for the serious journal writer. Anaïs Nin, whose well-known published diaries span seven volumes and who collaborated with Rainer in teaching a journal writing course, wrote the preface to this book.

  Rainer’s book, written in 1978, is a comprehensive discussion of journal writing spanning the gamut of topics from “diary devices” (a.k.a. journal techniques), to ways of transforming personal problems, discovering joy, doing dream work, to re-reading your journal, and expanding creativity.

  The chapter “The Diary as Time Machine” examines the journal through the lens of time. Its perspective is unique among journal books and contains valuable insights. Here’s a sample from that chapter: “The diary is the genre of the present moment. And on the continuum of time between past and future, the present moment is the point of power from which you can influence the meaning and direction of your life. The present moment contains all you have experienced, felt, and thought in your lifetime…. It also contains the seeds of all you are to become. The present moment is the portal to past and future, and the diary is the vehicle that enables you to travel into both dimensions.”

  The New Diary would be valuable to those looking for a thorough and scholarly review of journal writing.

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