Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0009420, Sun, 14 Mar 2004 12:59:23 -0800

Subject
Fw: M. KOROVKIN. NOT to be confused with M. Livri
Date
Body
M. KOROVKIN, Livri, etc.
----- Original Message -----
From: michael korovkin
To: chtodel@cox.net ; tacolquhoun@btopenworld.com
Cc: anatolivry2@yahoo.fr
Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2004 12:43 PM
Subject: M. KOROVKIN, Livri, etc.


Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like hereby to let all of you know that prior to this moment, I have never sent any of you any messages ­ electronic or otherwise. All I did was to write a short story inspired, as it were, by an interview of "Ogonek"... with Mr. D. Nabokov. After reading the latter, I became rather amused and thus compelled to write a piece "Komu Suzhdeno byt' utonenym, tot ne osuzhdet" ( http://www.geocities.com/korovkintonabokov/ ). That's all.

Since the said interview was referred to me by Mr. Livri, I sent him an electronic copy of the story as a matter of collegial courtesy. That was also the reason why I sent another copy to "Ogonek"... having received from the latter neither a reply nor a simple confirmation of the receipt.

Subsequently, Mr. Livri asked my permission for placing the said story on-line. Granted that the good editors of "Ogonek" failed to express any interest in the piece, and granted also that I am way too busy to personally promote just a short story ­ and the one written on the spur of the moment at that ­ I wrote to Mr. Livri that he may do with the story whatever he wishes.

Whatever his ulterior motives for publishing the story may be, I hope they neither detract from nor add to the quality of the piece itself. Nor, I hope, do they exaggerate its significance.

To sum up, and concerning your doubts, no matter how tenuous my personal perception of reality may be, it prompts me to confirm that I do indeed exist and that I did write the story in question.

However, I cannot emphasise too strongly that I have not communicated anything to any of you, whoever you may be. Further, I happily find myself totally extraneous to the ongoing squabbles in what appears to be a rather stormy tea-cup of "Nabokology" ­ both in terms of concrete participation and personal attitude.

Please consider this to be an unconditional disclaimer.

Truly yours,

Michael Korovkin

Prof. Michael A. Korovkin

Department of Communication Studies
European School of Economics/Nottigham-Trent University
Rome Campus
Largo Nazzareno
Roma

Department of English and American Literature
Faculty of Letters and Philosophy
LUMSA
Via Traspontina 21
Roma

Tel. (res.) + 390 761 924461
Fax + 390 761 407748
Cell. +39 333 6497719
E-mail: kommos@tin.it

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