Nabokov in Audio

In anticipation of their November 16th A Celebration of Nabokov, 92nd Street Y has released audio from a 1964 reading Nabokov gave. The reading, which includes a portion from Pale Fire as well as Lolita, can be heard here. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Nabokov’s voice before, though in many ways his style of speaking is exactly what you would expect.

The 92Y event is to celebrate the publication of The Original of Laura, Nabokov’s final “book” which is really a collection of notecards he never wanted published (read about it here). Martin Amis and Chip Kidd will be there.

I’m not much of a fan of publishing against an author’s wishes, especially if it is unfinished work from a man who left us plenty of finished work to read. Oh well. Hearing old audio is nice.