Nabokov

I can't tell if this is a joke or not. Regardless, it's very Nabokovian. It's a supposed foreword to a Nabokov bio that was never published, and it appears in this week's Village Voice. To wit:

Leif D. Warden's book-length study of Vladimir Nabokov remains, 20 years after its writing, a most lucid, thorough, and above all honest treatment of that talented lepidopterist's life and art. With the exception of Andrew Field's outstanding book, one regards the more lauded works in the arena of Nabokov studies with alarm. Alfred Appel Jr.'s simpering Lolita annotation is shamelessly Kinbotean, while New Zealander Brian Boyd's two-volume travesty might make more sense in Maori.

I'm guessing this is all a big joke, since to my knowledge Boyd's biography is the gold standard for Nabokov bios and also since Nabokov and Field had a famous falling out, the latter eventually producing a biography that was roundly excoriated by Nabokov's wife and son.

Anyway, the piece goes on for another thousand words or so and is very much worth your time, especially if you're a fan of Nabokovian inventiveness and playfulness.

Comments

[Terri Saul]

"(I should point out here that Warden did not actually teach at Ursinus—but he always carried chalk.) We would often stop by the campus watering hole for a pint of obscure Teutonic lager..."

It's gotta be a joke, and a good one.