April, 1941 Summary and Analysis

11. Anais Nin goes to a play with friends, then to Harlem to hear jazz. She becomes intoxicated with the energy and various moods and modes of expression in jazz. A letter from Henry Miller in the Southwest deplores the Navajo and blacks, who he fears may someday outnumber the whites. He prefers the "rootedness" of people who remain in one place and develop character, such as Southern whites. She meets the French opera singer Collete who although beautiful, talented and wealthy, has a tragic aura about her because of a failed romance with a Spanish pianist. She lists and describes her dance partners at a Manhattan party. She also describes an evening with her friend Paul at a tavern, where he awaited "a homosexual adventure" that never materialized.

In a kaleidoscopic view of her life, Nin:

• Describes getting her friends to...