Speak, Memory

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Vladimir Nabokov

Vintage, New York, 1989; originally published 1951, English

Fiction

ISBN: 9780679722007

First published in 1951 as Conclusive Evidence and then assiduously revised in 1966, this bok examines Nabokov’s life and times while offering incisive insights into his major works, including Lolita, Pnin, Despair, The Gift, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, and The Defense.

On 3 book lists

Maira Kalman

On Maira Kalman’s Book List

Nabokov's memoir—from his early childhood in privileged Russian high society to his refugee days in Paris. Nabokov is my favorite writer. There is both rigorous precision and strange melancholy. And joy. And beauty. And humor.

Michael Manfredi

On Michael Manfredi’s Book List

Nabokov’s elliptical autobiography and beautiful exposition of memory. More than a conventional autobiography, it is a set of elegantly written recollections of events, of people, of spaces and places—it is at once dreamy and precise.

Billie Tsien

On Billie Tsien’s Book List

Ravished by the beauty of words describing senses.

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