Under a Glass Bell, originally published in 1944, was the first book by Anaïs Nin

Anaïs Nin

Anaïs Nin was a French-Cuban author, based at first in France and later in the United States, who published her journals, which span more than 60 years, beginning when she was 11 years old and ending shortly before her death, her erotic literature, and short stories...

 to gain attention from the literary establishment. It was published by Nin's own printing press, which she named Gemor Press (a word play on the name of her employee and lover Gonzalo Moré). Edmund Wilson

Edmund Wilson

Edmund Wilson was an American writer and literary and social critic and noted man of letters.-Early life:Wilson was born in Red Bank, New Jersey. His father, Edmund Wilson, Sr., was a lawyer and served as New Jersey Attorney General. Wilson attended The Hill School, a college preparatory...

 favorably reviewed Under a Glass Bell in The New Yorker

The New Yorker

The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...

magazine.

The book is a collection of short stories, with topics ranging from diary keeping ("The Labyrinth"), to life in Paris ("Houseboat"), to a late-term abortion ("The Birth").

Many critics and biographers, such as Deirdre Bair

Deirdre Bair

Deirdre Bair is the critically acclaimed author of five works of nonfiction. She received the National Book Award for Samuel Beckett: A Biography. Her biographies of Simone de Beauvoir and C. G. Jung were finalists for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize...

, claim that Under a Glass Bell is Nin's finest work.