My real writing was put aside when I set out in search of the erotic. These are my adventures in that world of prostitution In her first volume of erotic writings, Delta of Venus, Anaïs Nin explored the nature of female sexuality. Little Birds is broader in its scope, glimpsing in dream-like fashion the subtle or explicit means by which men and women are aroused. Each of the thirteen vignettes captures a moment of sexual awakening, recognition or fulfilment. Lust, obsession, fantasy and desire emerge as part of the human condition, as pure or as complex as any other of its aspects. Little Birds may be seen as an attempt to create the ultimate sexual encounter or as a depiction of the diversity of sexual needs; as the author herself says, The sexual life is usually enveloped in many layers, for all of us . . . It is a veiled woman, half-dreamed. The first volume of her erotic writings, Delta of Venus, is also published by Penguin.