The Magician's Doubts Nabokov and the Risks of Fiction [Paperback]

As a child in Russia, Vladimir Nabokov enjoyed conjuring: I loved doing simple tricks--turning water into wine, that kind of thing. In this engrossing book Michael Wood explores the blend of arrogance and mischief that makes Nabokov such a fascinating and elusive master of fiction. Wood argues that Nabokov is neither the aesthete he liked to pretend to be nor the heavy-handed moralist recent critics make him. Major works likePnin, Lolita, Pale FireandAdaappear in a new light, but there are also chapters on earlier works, likethe Real Life of Sebastian Knight; on selected short stories; and on the translation ofEugene Onegin,as well as detailed discussions of Nabokov's ideas of literature, memory, pity, and pain.

The book comes fully to terms with Nabokov's blend of playfulness and seriousness, delving into the real delight of reading him and the odd disquiet that lurks beneath that pleasure. Wood's speculations spin outward to illuminate the ambiguities and aspirations of the modern novel, and to raise the question of how we uncover the author in a work, without falling into the obvious biographical traps.The Magician's Doubtsslices through the dustier conventions of criticism and never loses sight of the emotional and sensual pleasure of reading.

Michael Woodis Charles Barnwell Straut Professor of English at Princeton University. His previous works includeStendhalandAmerica in the Movies. This is a fine example of an endangered species: the full-length book of literary criticism dedicated to the appreciation and interpretation of a single author, addressed to the general reader. . . . ReadingThe Magician's Doubts, we re-experience and recover . . . pleasures of Nabokov's texts we may have forgotten or overlooked. ---David Lodge,The New York Times Book Review Wood's book is so thronged with pleasures, so acute in its insights, so replete with clear thoughts limpidly exprl3B