Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0012670, Fri, 28 Apr 2006 17:38:16 -0400

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Lolita, the definitive tale of sexual obsession ...
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[EDNOTE. Sandy Klein sends this link to a review of David Leddick's The
MIllionaire of Love, which compares it unfavorably to Lolita. -- SES]

The lure of the male Lolita
Bay Area Reporter - San Francisco,CA,USA
Issue: Vol. 36 / No. 17 / 27 April 2006

David Leddick's fifth novel explores transgenerational love
by Robert Julian

The Millionaire of Love by David Leddick; Harrington Park Press, $19.95

. . . Nevis knows the muscular young drifter is trouble, and he wisely
avoids all contact with him on their first meeting. But The Millionaire
of Love is a tale of romantic obsession, and it comes as no surprise
when Nevis extends a job offer to Rodomir. Their professional
collaboration leads rather quickly to a fundamentally unrequited sexual
obsession on the part of the older man. Rodomir, like all grand mal
manipulators, encourages and then spurns Nevis' advances over a period
of years while he takes what he can get from his patron and dallies with
a series of male and female lovers.

Author Leddick adopts a curious and rather inelegant structure for his
story. Beginning in the omniscient third person, Leddick later switches
to first person, writing chapters as Nevis, then Radomir and, most
strangely, as Nevis' niece, Amanda. This technique brings the added
perspective of differing points of view to the story of the two central
characters, but it does so awkwardly. The prose does not come close to
that of Vladimir Nabokov's in Lolita, the definitive tale of sexual
obsession.

Here's a link to the complete review:
http://www.ebar.com/arts/art_article.php?sec=books&article=121

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