• About this Book
• About the Author

Written by Vladimir Nabokov
Preface by Dmitri Nabokov

• Format: Hardcover, 304 pages
• Publisher: Knopf
• On Sale: November 17, 2009
• Price: $35.00
• ISBN: 978-0-307-27189-1 (0-307-27189-7)

about this book

When Vladimir Nabokov died in 1977, he left instructions for his heirs to burn the 138 handwritten index cards that made up the rough draft of his final and unfinished novel, The Original of Laura. But Nabokov’s wife, Vera, could not bear to destroy her husband’s last work, and when she died, the fate of the manuscript fell to her son. Dmitri Nabokov, now seventy-five—the Russian novelist’s only surviving heir, and translator of many of his books—has wrestled for three decades with the decision of whether to honor his father’s wish or preserve for posterity the last piece of writing of one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. His decision finally to allow publication of the fragmented narrative—dark yet playful, preoccupied with mortality—affords us one last experience of Nabokov’s magnificent creativity, the quintessence of his unparalleled body of work.

“A peek inside the author’s process and mindset as he neared death . . . Knopf is publishing the book in an intriguing form . . . An amazing document.” –Publishers Weekly

“The Original of Laura is a tale of love and lust; to read what exists of the novel is to have a sense of having come into the middle of something–the reader gathering from the cards . . . a renewed appreciation of Nabokov’s trademark lush language. All public and academic librarians should be aware of this literary event.” –Brad Hooper, Booklist

“The legendarily meticulous Nabokov spent a couple of fertile decades filling index cards with careful paragraphs, which he then revised and shuffled into complete novels. When he died he left one last batch, a partial draft . . . A unique chance to see the perfectionist in imperfection.” –New York

“A glimpse into the mind of a great writer. As a bonus, we get the languid atmosphere, the honed language, and that Nabokovian sense that sex and death are linked as self-obsession . . . It’s astonishing to get this last bit of light from Nabokov.” –Library Journal (starred)