Jezebel: Nabokov

The Wives Of Great Male Writers, Chapter 5,000

Irin Carmon — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST

While in St. Croix, Paul Krugman wears the same plaid shirt for days. Another lesson from the this week's The New Yorker profile of the Times op-ed columnist: Krugman has a symbiotic relationship with his (far-lesser-known) wife, Robin Wells. More »

Only Words To Play With

Katy Kelleher — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 09:30:00 EST

In 2007 John Bertram issued a challenge: design a cover for Nabokov's Lolita. The results run the gamut from horribly creepy to uncannily pretty. Check out the full library (and compare representations of pedophilia) here: [Flickr via BlackBook] More »

Pour yourself a gin and pineapple — Humbert...

Sadie Stein — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:40:00 EDT

Pour yourself a gin and pineapple — Humbert Humbert's favorite tipple — Lolita's 50. Which probably makes her more like 68, strictly speaking. Anyway, Nabokov's masterpiece has endured a half-century of controversy, banning,misinterpretation, cultural cooption, adaptation and dissection, and remains at the top of the canon, multilayered and artful. While "Lolita" has entered the lexicon as shorthand for a seductive nymphet, David Gates makes the point that "the book's title is an artful misdirection: it points not at its putative heroine, but at her representation in the narrator's mind. And while Humbert Humbert works hard to beguile his readers, he never seduced his creator; in one interview Nabokov called him "a vain and cruel wretch who manages to appear 'touching'." [Newsweek] More »

Reading Lolita In America: Where Victim Becomes Vixen

Sadie Stein — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:30:00 EDT

Lolita In America: Where Victim Becomes Vixen" alt="Click here to read Reading Lolita In America: Where Victim Becomes Vixen" src="http://cache.jezebel.com/assets/images/39/2008/09/_44062867_lolita_other203i.jpg"/>

There's a new interview on Nerve with Graham Vickers, the author of Chasing Lolita: How Popular Culture Corrupted Nabokov's Little Girl All Over Again, in which the author explores the way the icon has entered the culture — and how thoroughly that perception distorts Nabokov's actual novel. Nowadays, a Lolita is any underage temptress — "from Amy Fisher to Hard Candy" — whereas the character is very much a creation of adult male fantasy. Weirdly, as our culture's obsession with pedophilia grows, the character of Lolita has become more of a vixen and less of a victim. More »