Conversations with Vladimir Nabokov

Robert Gallo

Publisher: University Press of Mississippi

Summary

Conversations with Vladimir Nabokov brings together candid, revealing interviews with one of the twentieth century’s master prose writers. Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) was a Russian American scientist, poet, translator, and professor of literature. Critics throughout the world celebrated him for developing the luminous and enigmatic style that advanced the boundaries of modern literature more than any author since James Joyce. In a career that spanned over six decades, he produced dozens of iconic works, including Lolita, Pale Fire, Ada, and his classic autobiography, Speak, Memory.The twenty-eight interviews and profiles in this collection were drawn from Nabokov’s numerous print and broadcast appearances over a period of nineteen years. Beginning with the controversy surrounding the American publication of Lolita in 1958, he offers trenchant, witty views on society, literature, education, the role of the author, and a range of other topics. He discusses the numerous literary and symbolic allusions in his work, his use of parody and satire, as well as analyses of his own literary influences.Nabokov also provided a detailed portrait of his life—from his aristocratic childhood in prerevolutionary Russia, education at Cambridge, apprenticeship as an émigré writer in the capitals of Europe, to his decision in 1940 to immigrate to the United States, where he achieved renown and garnered an international readership. The interviews in this collection are essential for seeking a clearer understanding of the life and work of an author who was pivotal in shaping the landscape of contemporary fiction.

Available since: 04/06/2017.

Other books that might interest you

Machiavelli - Philosopher of Power

Ross King

Part of the acclaimed Eminent Lives series, Machiavelli is a superb portrait of the brilliant and revolutionary political philosopher—history’s most famous theorist of “warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed”—and the age he embodied. Ross King, the New York Times bestselling author of Brunelleschi’s Dome, argues that the author of The Prince was a far more complex and sympathetic character than is often portrayed.

Show book

Gubbins & SOE

Peter Wilkinson, Joan Bright Astley

General Colin Gubbins was in charge of SOE during World War Two. This is the first biography of a man who was destined to live his life in the shadows. A biography of General Colin Gubbins, who was in charge of SOE during World War II. Gubbins was destined, by the nature of his profession, to live a secretive life, and the book, which incorporates much previously unpublished material, offers revelations about the man and his mysterious mission.

Show book

My Secret Life Vol 6 Chapter 8

Dominic Crawford Collins

My Secret Life is the longest erotic autobiography ever written. Penned anonymously during the 1800s by a wealthy English gentleman called Walter, it offers an eye and thigh opening account of life behind closed doors in the Victorian era. Banned from publication for its extreme and explicit content for nearly a century, My Secret Life has now come to life in the 21st century as an immersive audio book, narrated and scored by film composer Dominic Crawford Collins.Volume 6 Chapter 8?Promiscuous whorings. • Mrs. Eliza F***m**g. • Her fling. • An expensive establishment. • Mutual likings. • I am her fancy. • Lord E**t*r. • Caught by her with a woman. • My gift. • She marries. • A Rotterdam saloon. • A flaxen-haired North Hollander. • The young Englishman. • An Amsterdam bitch. • A difficult poke and queer cunt. • A Dutch sailor's whore. • Polyglot baudiness. • A pomatum pot. • At B***s**s. • Mrs. W***t*r again. • Acquaintance renewed. • A shallow cupboard. • A cough and a fart. • Four brothels and eight whores. • A larkish maid-servant. • Unsuccessful attempts.

Show book

In His Sights - A True Story of...

Kate Brennan

“A remarkable and very powerful” account by a stalking victim “conveys her own fear and mounting sense of physical discomfort so well that we feel it, too” (Booklist, starred review).

What if the man you loved transformed into a ruthless and relentless tormentor, threatening your sanity and your safety?

This is not a fictional scenario. It is Kate Brennan’s life.

A well-respected writer and scholar, Kate was wary of getting involved when she met Paul, a wealthy, charismatic businessman, but his charm and determination eventually won her over. Once they moved in together, however, Kate discovered the sordid secrets lurking beneath the Mr. Right facade: the serial infidelities, the unbalanced psyche. When she ended their relationship, Paul dedicated himself to stalking her—using his limitless resources to track her movements, interfering with her work, arranging for people to break into her home—in a campaign of cruel harassment that has been Kate’s unending nightmare for more than a decade . . . and which continues to this day.

A shocking and visceral memoir that lays bare the twisted mind of a stalker, In His Sights is a gripping tale of one woman’s descent into the dark side of love and her ongoing struggle to free herself.

“A chilling book.” —Helen Fisher, author of Why We Love and The Anatomy of Love

“Haunting.” —Janine Latus, author of If I am Missing or Dead

“I couldn’t put this book down.” —Mary-Ann Tirone Smith, author of Girls of a Tender Age: A Memoir

“Kate Brennan knows the torment, tedium, and intermittent terror of being stalked. In His Sights captures it all.” —J. Reid Meloy, Ph.D., Forensic Psychologist and author of Violent Attachments

Show book

Homegrown Terror - Benedict...

Eric D. Lehman

This lively biography of America’s most famous traitor offers a new perspective on his terrible legacy as well as life in Revolutionary Era Connecticut. 
 
On September 6, 1781, Connecticut native Benedict Arnold and a force of 1,700 British soldiers and loyalists took Fort Griswold and burnt New London to the ground. The brutality of the invasion galvanized the new nation, and “Remember New London!” would become a rallying cry for troops under General Lafayette.  
 
In Homegrown Terror, Eric D. Lehman chronicles the events leading up to the attack and highlights this key transformation in Arnold—the point where he went from betraying his comrades to massacring his neighbors and destroying their homes. This defining incident forever marked him as a symbol of evil, turning an antiheroic story about weakness of character and missed opportunity into one about the nature of treachery itself.  
 
Homegrown Terror draws upon a variety of primary sources and perspectives, from the traitor himself to his former comrades like Jonathan Trumbull and Silas Deane, to the murdered Colonel Ledyard. Rethinking Benedict Arnold through the lens of this terrible episode, Lehman sheds light on the ethics of the dawning nation, and the way colonial America responded to betrayal and terror.

Show book

Aiming High - How a Prominent...

Darren Prince

Aiming High is the astonishing story of sports and celebrity agent Darren Prince, who battled addiction while representing some of the most iconic figures in the world. After a drug overdose, many demoralizing nights, and mornings where he couldn't get out of bed without a prescription in hand, Darren hit rock bottom — and in the process discovered the true meaning of success.

Show book