A while ago the Nabokov list took up the subject of comparison between Joyce and Nabokov, which probably happens every so often. At the time, I wanted to mention Martin Amis' PEN address, but memory failed me of details. I'm currently writing an article in which I want to quote that lecture, so I got around to looking it up. It' s available online as a recording and as text at http://martinamis.albion.edu/amisnabokov.htm Here's a snip: "Bookman Old StyleNabokov wants to embrace his readers.... He comes across as this snorting wizard of hauteur, but he is the dream host, always giving us on our visits his best chair and his best wine. What would Joyce do? Let's think, he would call out vaguely from the kitchen, asking you to wait a couple of hours for the final fermentation of a home-brewed punch made out of grenadine, conger eels and sheep dip." I recommend it. It's short, precise, and funny. Tori Victoria N. Alexander, Ph.D. Dactyl Foundation for the Arts & Humanities 64 Grand Street New York, NY 10013 212 219 2344 www.dactyl.org Support the arts! Copy and paste the link below to donate to Dactyl Foundation using PayPal. https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=art%40dactyl.org&item_name=Member+%2420+Friend+%24100+Patron+%24500+Benefactor+%241000&item_number=Various+Levels&no_note=1&tax=0¤cy_code=USD On Aug 18, 2005, at 7:27 PM, Donald B. Johnson wrote: EDNOTE. Sam Schuman is one of the founding members of the Vladimir Nabokov Society. ---------------------------------------------------------- ----- Forwarded message from schumans@morris.umn.edu ----- Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2005 13:10:05 -0500 From: sam schuman < Reply-To: sam schuman < Subject: My first time with LOLITA To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum Like many another adolescent in the late 1950's my first time with Lolita was a major disappointment: I was looking for a dirty book, and only found a great one. My first serious encounter with the novel came some years later, when I was teaching freshman composition at Northwestern University, under the directorship of Alfred Appel. My wife and young children and I spent a summer in Yorkshire, at the home of another Northwestern colleague, and I picked up The Annotated Lolita because I was curious about the scholarship of my supervisor. A few days later, I finished the book, dashed to the local bookshop, and purchased everything by Nabokov they had for sale. -- Sam Samuel Schuman Chancellor The University of Minnesota, Morris Morris, MN 56267 schumans@morris.umn.edu 320-589-6020 ----- End forwarded message ----- Like many another adolescent in the late 1950's my first time with Lolita was a major disappointment:  I was looking for a dirty book, and only found a great one.  My first serious encounter with the novel came some years later, when I was teaching freshman composition at Northwestern University, under the directorship of Alfred Appel.  My wife and young children and I spent a summer in Yorkshire, at the home of another Northwestern colleague, and I picked up The Annotated Lolita because I was curious about the scholarship of my supervisor.  A few days later, I finished the book, dashed to the local bookshop, and purchased everything by Nabokov they had for sale. -- Sam Samuel Schuman Chancellor The University of Minnesota, Morris Morris, MN 56267 schumans@morris.umn.edu 320-589-6020