Description
Book SynopsisAn intensely private man, Vladimir Nabokov was uprooted first by the Russian Revolution and then by World War II. This work features a biography of Vladimir Nabokov, one of the greatest of twentieth-century writers, and describes the dramatic details of his life and the depths of his art.
Trade ReviewOne of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 1991 "Mr. Boyd has a remarkable gift for drawing life and literature together...[What he does] in this impressive biography reveals to us a Nabokov who has been far too little known... As a biography [Boyd's] book can hardly be surpassed. It is a definitive life of the man and a superbly documented chronicle of his time."--Sergei Davydov, The New York Times Book Review "A terrific biography: intelligent, compulsively readable, indispensable. Brian Boyd brings to his work a passionate scholarship comparable to that in Nabokov's own encyclopedic edition of Pushkin's Eugene Onegin. You just can't do better than that."--Michael Dirada, the Washington Post Book World "To the short list of outstanding literary biographies in our time there must now be added another remarkable achievement... Brian Boyd had a great story to tell, and he has told it superbly."--Hilton Kramer, The Wall Street Journal "Boyd has many qualities which mark him as Nabokov's natural biographer."--Jane Grayson, The Times Literary Supplement
Table of Contents*Frontmatter, pg. i*CONTENTS, pg. ix*List of Illustrations, pg. xi*Note on Dates, pg. xiii*Introduction, pg. 1*1. Liberal Strains: The Pattern of the Past, pg. 13*2. A World Awakening: St. Petersburg, 1899-1904, pg. 37*3. First Revolution and First Duma: St. Petersburg, 1904-1906, pg. 54*4. Butterflies: St. Petersburg, 1906-1910, pg. 68*5. School: St. Petersburg, 1911-1914, pg. 86*6. Lover and Poet: Petrograd, 1914-1917, pg. 110*7. Foretaste of Exile: Crimea, 1917-1919, pg. 136*8. Becoming Sirin: Cambridge, 1919-1922, pg. 161*9. Regrouping: Berlin, 1922-1923, pg. 196*10. Enter the Muse: Berlin, 1923-1925, pg. 212*11. Scenes from Emigre Life: Berlin, 1925-1926, pg. 241*12. Ideas Away: Berlin, 1927-1929, pg. 270*13. Nabokov the Writer, pg. 292*14. The Defense (Zashchita Luzhina), pg. 321*15. Negative and Positive: Berlin, 1929-1930, pg. 341*16. Bright Desk, Dark World: Berlin, 1930-1932, pg. 362*17. Distant Prospects: Berlin, 1932-1934, pg. 382*18. Translation and Transformation: Berlin, 1934-1937, pg. 408*19. On the Move: France, 1937, pg. 432*20. The Gift (Dar), pg. 447*21. Destitute: France, 1938-1939, pg. 479*22. Searching for an Exit: France, 1939-1940, pg. 503*Acknowledgments, pg. 525*Notes, pg. 533*Index, pg. 583
