Nabokov in America : on the road to Lolita / Robert Roper.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Roper, Robert, 1946-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich, 1899-1977.

Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich.

Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich, 1899-1977--Homes and haunts--United States.

Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich, 1899-1977--Travel--West (U.S.).

Travel.

West (U.S.)--Description and travel.

West (U.S.).

Authors, Russian--20th century--Biography.

Authors, Russian.

United States.

Authors, American--20th century--Biography.

Authors, American.

Homes.

West United States.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

354 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Other Title:

On the road to Lolita

Place of Publication:

New York : Bloomsbury USA, 2015.

Summary:

Writing about the author of the immortal Lolita and Pale Fire, bornto anRobert Roper fills out Vladimir Nabokov's American period, covering Nabokov's critical friendship with Edmund Wilson, his time at Cornell, his role at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology. But Nabokov in America finds its narrative heart in his serial sojourns into the wilds of the West, undertaken with his wife, Vera, and their son over more than a decade. Nabokov covered more than 200,000 miles as he indulged his other passion: butterfly collecting. Roper has mined fresh sources to bring detail to these journeys, and traces their significant influence in Nabokov's work: on two-lane highways and in late-'40s motels and cafes, we feel Lolita draw near, and understand Nabokov's seductive familiarity with the American mundane." -- Provided by publisher.

"The author of the immortal Lolita and Pale Fire, born to an eminent Russian family, conjures the apotheosis of the high modernist artist: cultured, refined-as European as they come. But Vladimir Nabokov, who came to America fleeing the Nazis, came to think of his time here as the richest of his life. Indeed, Nabokov was not only happiest here, but his best work flowed from his response to this exotic land. Robert Roper fills out this period in the writer's life with charm and insight- covering Nabokov's critical friendship with Edmund Wilson, his time at Cornell, his role at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology. But Nabokov in America finds its narrative heart in his serial sojourns into the wilds of the West, undertaken with his wife, Vera, and their son over more than a decade. Nabokov covered more than 200,000 miles as he indulged his other passion: butterfly collecting. Roper has mined fresh sources to bring detail to these journeys, and traces their significant influence in Nabokov's work: on two-lane highways and in late-'40s motels and cafes, we feel Lolita draw near, and understand Nabokov's seductive familiarity with the American mundane. Nabokov in America is also a love letter to U.S. literature, in Nabokov's broad embrace of it from Melville to the Beats. Reading Roper, we feel anew the mountain breezes and the miles logged, the rich learning and the Romantic mind behind some of Nabokov's most beloved books"-- Provided by publisher.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-281) and index.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Schaffer fund bookplate.

ISBN:

9780802743633

0802743633

OCLC:

897946344

Online:

Cover image