Lolita in the Afterlife: On Beauty, Risk, and Reckoning with the Most Indelible and Shocking Novel of the Twentieth Century
Lolita in the Afterlife: On Beauty, Risk, and Reckoning with the Most Indelible and Shocking Novel of the Twentieth Century
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Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Annotation: A vibrant collection of sharp and essential modern pieces on Vladimir Nabokov’s perennially provocative book—with origin... more
 
Reviews: 3
Catalog Number: #6685259
Format: Paperback
Copyright Date: 2021
Edition Date: 2021 Release Date: 03/16/21
Pages: xxxvii, 413 pages
ISBN: 1-9848988-3-3
ISBN 13: 978-1-9848988-3-8
Dewey: 813
LCCN: 2020033847
Dimensions: 21 cm
Language: English
Reviews:
Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

A sparkling collection of essays about the controversial novel.Lolita is personal for Minton Quigley, a writer, editor, and daughter of Walter Minton, the Putnam president who first published the novel in the U.S. in 1958. Like many of the contributors, actor Emily Mortimer wonders if a novel about the sexually explicit confessions of a middle-aged pedophile could be published today. In "Véra and Lo," Stacy Schiff incisively explores the significant role of Nabokov's wife, who "stood as the firewall between" her husband and Humbert Humbert in the book's genesis and reception. Roxane Gay explores why Lolita, with its "tension between the beauty of the novel and the ugliness of its subject matter," is a "book I love and hate in equal measure." Crime novelist Laura Lippman writes that she's "always approached Lolita as a detective story," revealing Clare Quilty as "our culprit, hidden in plain sight." Lauren Groff considers the "ways in which Nabokov sets out to seduce his readers," and Sloane Crosley considers Lolita's impact on popular culture. "In the new millennium," she writes, "Lolita is a lazy euphemism for any relationship between a younger woman and an older man." Jessica Shattuck gives voice to Charlotte Haze, Lolita's mother, and Mary Gaitskill confronts the thorny issues of art, love, and morality. Zainab Salbi bemoans the situation of women in Iraq, where "Humbert Humbert is not some fictional character but a living one, and his right to have sex with underage girls is established both religiously and thus far politically." Readers will also learn how Stanley Kubrick transformed the novel into what Tom Bissell describes as a "ferociously psychological" film and why, as Christina Baker Kline explains, we read Lolita for its language, characters, humor, pathos, and, yes, "its unsettling depiction of a sociopath." Other contributors include Alexander Chee, Ian Frazier, Morgan Jerkins, Andre Dubus III, and Aleksandar Hemon.A compendious, wide-ranging collection of sharp, thoughtful essays.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

A sparkling collection of essays about the controversial novel.Lolita is personal for Minton Quigley, a writer, editor, and daughter of Walter Minton, the Putnam president who first published the novel in the U.S. in 1958. Like many of the contributors, actor Emily Mortimer wonders if a novel about the sexually explicit confessions of a middle-aged pedophile could be published today. In "Véra and Lo," Stacy Schiff incisively explores the significant role of Nabokov's wife, who "stood as the firewall between" her husband and Humbert Humbert in the book's genesis and reception. Roxane Gay explores why Lolita, with its "tension between the beauty of the novel and the ugliness of its subject matter," is a "book I love and hate in equal measure." Crime novelist Laura Lippman writes that she's "always approached Lolita as a detective story," revealing Clare Quilty as "our culprit, hidden in plain sight." Lauren Groff considers the "ways in which Nabokov sets out to seduce his readers," and Sloane Crosley considers Lolita's impact on popular culture. "In the new millennium," she writes, "Lolita is a lazy euphemism for any relationship between a younger woman and an older man." Jessica Shattuck gives voice to Charlotte Haze, Lolita's mother, and Mary Gaitskill confronts the thorny issues of art, love, and morality. Zainab Salbi bemoans the situation of women in Iraq, where "Humbert Humbert is not some fictional character but a living one, and his right to have sex with underage girls is established both religiously and thus far politically." Readers will also learn how Stanley Kubrick transformed the novel into what Tom Bissell describes as a "ferociously psychological" film and why, as Christina Baker Kline explains, we read Lolita for its language, characters, humor, pathos, and, yes, "its unsettling depiction of a sociopath." Other contributors include Alexander Chee, Ian Frazier, Morgan Jerkins, Andre Dubus III, and Aleksandar Hemon.A compendious, wide-ranging collection of sharp, thoughtful essays.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Former book editor Minton Quigley (The Early Birds) brings together 30 thought-provoking essays inspired by Nabokov-s famous 1955 novel to provide -an enduring road map of how we think and talk about Lolita- in a post-#MeToo world. The essays examine Lolita from a variety of vantage points: in -Ugly Beautiful,- Roxane Gay discusses the complexities and importance of writing about ugly things. Sarah Weinman, in -The Showgirl Who Discovered Lolita,- details how Rosemary Ridgewell recommended that her lover, Walter Minton, president of G.P. Putnam-s Sons, publish the novel. In -Maison Nymphette,- Kate Elizabeth Russell recalls finding a community of young women in an early internet chat forum who all found inspiration in Lolita the character. The recurring theme is that while Lolita is critical of an American culture that objectifies and sexualizes young girls, it simultaneously helps to propagate those same ills; as novelist Lauren Groff writes, -Nabokov-s most dazzling creation is both a truly towering work of genius and a profoundly poisonous thing that works in darkness and hurts in stealth.- The essays are uniformly enjoyable, and readers will find this collection full of welcome perspectives on a literary classic. (Mar.)Correction: A previous version of this review misidentified the author's occupation.

Reviewing Agencies: - Find Other Reviewed Titles
Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)
Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)
Bibliography Index/Note: Includes bibliographical references.
Reading Level: 6.0
Interest Level: 9+

A vibrant collection of sharp and essential modern pieces on Vladimir Nabokov’s perennially provocative book—with original contributions from a stellar cast of prominent twenty-first century writers.

In 1958, Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita was published in the United States to immediate controversy and bestsellerdom. More than sixty years later, this phenomenal novel generates as much buzz as it did when originally published. Central to countless issues at the forefront of our national discourse—art and politics, race and whiteness, gender and power, sexual trauma—Lolita lives on, in an afterlife as blinding as a supernova.

Lolita in the Afterlife is edited by the daughter of Lolita’s original publisher in America.

WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY
Robin Givhan • Aleksandar Hemon • Jim Shepard • Emily Mortimer • Laura Lippman • Erika L. Sánchez • Sarah Weinman • Andre Dubus III • Mary Gaitskill • Zainab Salbi • Christina Baker Kline • Ian Frazier • Cheryl Strayed • Sloane Crosley • Victor LaValle • Jill Kargman • Lila Azam Zanganeh • Roxane Gay • Claire Dederer • Jessica Shattuck • Stacy Schiff • Susan Choi • Kate Elizabeth Russell • Tom Bissell • Kira Von Eichel • Bindu Bansinath • Dani Shapiro • Alexander Chee • Lauren Groff • Morgan Jerkins

Introduction by Jenny Minton Quigley

Witness for the Defense: My Father and Lolita, Emily Mortimer
Véra and Lo, Stacy Schiff
On the Road with Humbert and Lolita, Ian Frazier
Ugly Beautiful, Roxane Gay
Badge of Honor, Susan Choi
Watching the Detective, Laura Lippman
Lolita Diary, Alexander Chee
Delectatio Morosa, Lauren Groff
Lolita, #MeToo, and Myself, Morgan Jerkins
Lolita, Chamonix, France, 2018, Andre Dubus III
The Showgirl Who Discovered Lolita, Sarah Weinman
Fashion’s Lolita; Fragile, Subversive, and a Paean to White Femininity, Robin Givhan
Lolita and the Empathetic Imagination, Jim Shepard
How Lolita Freed Me from My Own Humbert, Bindu Bansinath
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, Christina Baker Kline
Charmed, Victor LaValle
They Stay the Same Age, Sloane Crosley
Dear Sugar, Cheryl Strayed
What We Talk About When We Talk About Lolita, Lila Azam Zanganeh
Nabokov’s Rocking Chair: Lolita at the Movies, Tom Bissell
Lo and Behold, Jill Kargman
Acquiring Lolita’s Language, Aleksandar Hemon
Charlotte’s Complaint, Jessica Shattuck
Lolita in the Time of Trigger Warnings, Erika L. Sánchez
Maison Nymphette, Kate Elizabeth Russell
A Living Story of Lolita in Iraq, Zainab Salbi
The Lollipop Room, Kira von Eichel
The Anti-Monster, Claire Dederer
Lolita in Lockdown, Dani Shapiro
I Cannot Get Out Said the Starling, Mary Gaitskill

Acknowledgments

About the Editor
About the Contributors


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