Fall Colors

We are just a few weeks away from the November 17th release of The Original of Laura by Vladamir Nabokov. This "book" was intended to be burned after Nabokov's death and was in fact, 138 unordered index cards upon which various scenes were sketched. In 2008 after over thirty years of reflection, Mr. Nabokov's son, Dmitri Nabokov, agreed to publish the manuscript. The book will also contain reproductions of Nabokov's index cards which can be removed and rearranged to change the story. This addition to the novel was the idea of Chris Kidd, Alfred A. Knopf's associate art director. [Upon reading the ability to shuffle the cards, I wondered if Mr. Kidd was a fan of B.S. Johnson's The Unfortunates which was published in twenty-seven sections with the intention of the middle twenty-five sections to be read in random order; the first and last sections are set.]

For those of you who are Playboy subscribers (for the articles of course), you have the opportunity for the first read of The Original of Laura in the December publication (available November 10th) with a 5,000 word passage.

I was first introduced to Nabokov's writing in my first year of college; his use of color in several works was the subject of a term paper for my Honor English class. I wonder if I still have a copy...