Shades of Laura: Vladimir Nabokov's Last Novel, The Original of Laura

The 2008 posthumous publication of The Original of Laura by Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) was both controversial and intriguing. Much of the debate derived from the author's wish for the unfinished manuscript to be destroyed. It was ultimately published in fragments, a decision made by his son and sole surviving heir, Dmitri Nabokov. This volume of essays edited by Leving (Russian studies, Dalhousie Univ.) examines various aspects of the ordeal; contributors who are nearly all professors who have published, some extensively, on Nabokov, investigate the mechanics of the novel's release and its reception, as well as offer critical analyses. In addition to these scholarly pieces are reprints of reviews from the Los Angeles Times (James Marcus), Bookforum (John Banvillle), the Christian Science Monitor (Heller McAlpin), and the Wall Street Journal (Alexander Theroux), among others, showing the response from a wide range of literary perspectives. The section "A Toolbox," provides a discussion among five translators of Nabokov's works in which they comment on different aspects of translation, including what they encountered with the unusual and incomplete manuscript.