Book News
Read it for the article — by Nabokov.
Though his first nine novels were written in Russian, literary giant Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977) went on to write other masterful books in English. His most well-known is “Lolita” (1955), which the Modern Library puts at No. 4 on the list of the 100 best novels of the 20th century.
So it’s no wonder that the publishing world is buzzing over Playboy magazine’s purchase of a 5,000 word excerpt from Nabokov’s upcoming novella, “The Original of Laura.” The unfinished story was Nabokov’s last writing.
Working through an agent, Nabokov’s son, Dmitri, first offered the excerpt to the New Yorker magazine but was turned down. That was surprising, as The New Yorker (and Playboy) has a history of publishing and promoting Nabokov’s works during his life and posthumously.
“I’m happy to tell you we’ve never paid this much for a book excerpt — ever,” Amy Grace Loyd, Playboy’s literary editor, was quoted as saying. She would not name the dollar amount.
The excerpt will appear in the December issue of Playboy, due Nov. 10. That’s about a week before Knopf will ship “Laura” to bookstores.
sacbee.com
First Lines
The Girl Who Played With Fire, by Stieg Larsson
She lay on her back fastened by leather straps to a narrow bed with a steel frame. The harness was tight across her rib cage. Her hands were manacled to the sides of the bed. She had long since given up trying to free herself. She was awake, but her eyes were closed. If she opened her eyes she would find herself in darkness; the only light was a faint strip that seeped in above the door. She had a bad taste in her mouth and longed to be able to brush her teeth. She was listening for the sound of footsteps, which would mean he was coming. She had no idea how late at night it was, but she sensed that it was getting too late for him to visit her. A sudden vibration in the bed made her open her eyes. It was if a machine of some sort had started up somewhere in the building. After a few seconds she was no longer sure whether she was imagining it. She marked off another day in her head. It was the forty-third day of her imprisonment.
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