The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads tagged with “Vladimir Nabokov”

Vladimir Nabokov on Writing, Reading, and the Three Qualities a Great Storyteller Must Have
Vladimir Nabokov on Writing, Reading, and the Three Qualities a Great Storyteller Must Have

“Between the wolf in the tall grass and the wolf in the tall story there is a shimmering go-between. That go-between, that prism, is the art of literature.”

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The Odd Habits and Curious Customs of Famous Writers
The Odd Habits and Curious Customs of Famous Writers

Color-coded muses, rotten apples, self-imposed house arrest, and other creative techniques at the intersection of the superstitious and the pragmatic.

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Nabokov and Homeland Security: How Russia’s Most Revered Literary Émigré Became an American
Nabokov and Homeland Security: How Russia’s Most Revered Literary Émigré Became an American

How a broken lock, a suitcase of dead butterflies, and a pair of boxing gloves became the backdrop of the making of a legend.

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Vladimir Nabokov on What Makes a Good Reader
Vladimir Nabokov on What Makes a Good Reader

“A good reader, a major reader, an active and creative reader is a rereader.”

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Nabokov’s Legacy: Bequeathing Butterfly Theory
Nabokov’s Legacy: Bequeathing Butterfly Theory

Getting schooled in the arts and sciences, or what literature has to do with lepidoptery.

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The 13 Best Biographies, Memoirs, and History Books of 2013
The 13 Best Biographies, Memoirs, and History Books of 2013

From Alan Turing to Susan Sontag, by way of a lost cat, a fierce Victorian lady-journalist, and some very odd creative habits.

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Nabokov on Inspiration and the Six Short Stories Everyone Should Read
Nabokov on Inspiration and the Six Short Stories Everyone Should Read

“A prefatory glow, not unlike some benign variety of the aura before an epileptic attack, is something the artist learns to perceive very early in life.”

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Things Nabokov Hates
Things Nabokov Hates

Why you should never, ever use the phrase “the moment of truth” in your writing.

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Vladimir Nabokov on Literature and Life: A Rare 1969 BBC Interview
Vladimir Nabokov on Literature and Life: A Rare 1969 BBC Interview

“The arrows of adverse criticism cannot scratch, let alone pierce, the shield of what disappointed archers call my ‘self-assurance.'”

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