About this ebook
A man at his desk is interrupted by the appearance of a woodland elf in his room; the piano maestro Bachmann ends his career; a barber shaves the face of a man who once tortured him; a shy dreamer makes a deal with the Devil. In these sixty-five stories of magic and melancholy, Nabokov displays an astonishing range of inventiveness, with dazzling sleight of hand, fantastical fairy tales, intellectual games and enchanting glimpses into lives of ambiguity and loss.
This landmark new collection brings together the best of the short stories of Vladimir Nabokov, one of the twentieth century's greatest writers and author of Lolita and Pale Fire.
Part of a major new series of Vladimir Nabokov's work in Penguin Classics.
This landmark new collection brings together the best of the short stories of Vladimir Nabokov, one of the twentieth century's greatest writers and author of Lolita and Pale Fire.
Part of a major new series of Vladimir Nabokov's work in Penguin Classics.
About the author
Vladimir Nabokov was born in St Petersburg in 1899, but he left Russia when the Bolsheviks seized power. His family moved to England for a brief spell and finally settled in Berlin.
His first novel in English was The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, published in 1941. His other books include Ada, Laughter in the Dark, Details of a Sunset and Lolita, his best-known novel. Nabokov died in Montreux, Switzerland in 1977.
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