The Original of Laura
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009. 1st Edition. Hardcover. 8vo. Fine / Fine. Item #006922
Full printed cream cloth. 278 pp. Fine condition. When Nabokov died in 1977, he left instructions for his heirs to burn the 138 hand-written index cards that made up the rough draft of his final and unfinished novel, The Original of Laura. But his wife, Vera, could not bear to destroy her husband's last work, and when she died, the fate of the manuscript fell to her son. Dmitri Nabokov, the Russian novelist's only surviving heir, and translator of many of his books, wrestled for three decades with the decision of whether to honor his father's wish or preserve for posterity the last piece of writing of one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. His decision to finally allow the publication of the fragmented narrative - dark yet playful, preoccupied with morality - affords us one last experience of Nabokov's magnificent creativity, the quintessence of his unparalleled body of work.
Price: $38.00