Subject
Film Producer Evans and Nabokov's _Ada_
From
Date
Body
EDNOTE. NABOKV-L thanks Glenn Kenny of Premiere Magazine for the following
information on Robert Evans' memoir and VN's ADA.
---------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kenny, Glenn" <gkenny@hfmus.com>
To: "'Vladimir Nabokov Forum'" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> ---------------- Message requiring your approval (106
lines) ------------------
> Dear Editor,
>
> Sarah Funke's citation is more or less correct. Dimitri Nabokov's
> characterization of Robert Evans as "a vulgarian and a fool," while
> accurate, really doesn't do justice to the full measure of the man. The
> episode Ms. Funke cites can be found on pages 127-129 in the hardcover
> edition of Evans' notorious memoir "The Kid Stays in the Picture,"
published
> by Hyperion in 1994. The bit has provided great amusement to the
> Nabokovphiles toiling on the outskirts of the Dream Factory (e.g., myself
> and some other guy.) Pace Professor Johnson, it begins with Irving
"Swifty"
> Lazar tipping off Evans, then a young production executive at Paramount,
> about Nabokov's new book. Evans then describes N. as "possibly my favorite
> author" (love that "possibly") and then raves "Forget Lolita, which was
> great, but Laughter in the Dark was one of my five favorite books."
> (Incidentally, later in his memoir, Evans will describe in great detail
his
> cuckolding at the hands of Steve McQueen.)
>
> The howlers then come fast and furious. Of the Montreux Palace Hotel,
Evans
> remarks, "It was the off-season. I think the Nabokovs were the hotel's
only
> residents." His attempts to come to grips with Ada really have to be read
to
> be believed-here are some choice bits:
> "I went to my hotel room, not to sleep, but to read, and read, and
> read, and read, and read. There was one problem, I didn't know what I was
> reading. Maybe it's jet lag? I took a Dexamil, at that time a popular
> amphetamine."
>
> "Now going into my seventy-second hour of being awake, I read the
> 900-odd pages yet again. It was torture. I became so angry at my inability
> to understand it, I got up from my bed and began knocking my head against
> the door.
> 'God damn it, Evans, it's Nabokov. Are you this dumb?'"
>
> That last line never fails to crack me up.
>
> It should be noted that he doesn't reveal the title of the book
> until the end of the anecdote, trying to make it a punchline of sorts. The
> whole story is basically just another self-congratulatory tale-it ends
with
> Evans flying back to Los Angeles and informing his masters not to buy the
> rights to the book, and he then gloats about Columbia buying it and never
> making a film out of it.
>
> Not to come to Evans' defense, or anything, but if it's true that
> nothing is more exhilarating than philistine vulgarity, his memoir is one
of
> the most exhilarating things ever committed to print...
>
> Glenn Kenny
> Premiere Magazine
>
> > ----------
> > From: D. Barton Johnson
> > Reply To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
> > Sent: Friday, March 21, 2003 10:07 PM
> > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > Subject: Fw: Dmtiri Nabokov responds re film Producer Evans and _Ada_
> >
> > ----------------------------------------
> >
> >
> > EDNOTE. I have appended Sarah Funke's original note re Evans/ADA to DN's
> > responsejust below.
> >
> > ------------------------
> >
> >
> >
> > Dear NABOKV_L
> >
> > Regarding the item Sarah Funke supplied, please post the following:
> >
> > If the citation is correct Mr. Evans is a vulgarian and a fool. In the
> > first place, my father did not "peddle" his books or anything else
except
> > his bicycle, which he did pedal. In the second, it does not take much
grey
> > matter to realize that rushing through Ada at breakneck speed once,
twice,
> > or many times is not the way to make sense of it.
> >
> >
> > Dmitri
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------
> > ORIGINAL SARAH FUNKE POSTING
> >
> > ORIGINAL EDNOTE. NABOKV-L thanks Sarah Funke who is, among much else,
the
> > compiler/editior of the elegant book catalogue "Vera's Butterflies" put
> > out
> > by the book dealer Glen Horowitz in New York.
> > I am a bit leery of the story here since VN's cinematic dealings
were
> > handled by the mega-agent Irving "Swifty" Lazar. Also, Evans must have
> > been
> > a speed reader if he got thru ADA twice in one night.
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: < SarahFunke@aol.com>
> >
> >
> > l am told that in his memoir _The Kid Stays in the Picture_, movie
> > producer Robert Evans includes
> > A lengthy anecdote "about a meeting with Nabokov, who was peddling the
> > manuscript of Ada to Hollywood for a film adaptation. Evans read the
> > manuscript twice through, during the night before his meeting, and he
> > couldn't make any sense of it, so he passed on the project. He also
talkS
> > about Laughter in the Dark as one of his favorite novels of all time..."
> >
> > Best,
> >
> > Sarah Funke
> >
> >
information on Robert Evans' memoir and VN's ADA.
---------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kenny, Glenn" <gkenny@hfmus.com>
To: "'Vladimir Nabokov Forum'" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> ---------------- Message requiring your approval (106
lines) ------------------
> Dear Editor,
>
> Sarah Funke's citation is more or less correct. Dimitri Nabokov's
> characterization of Robert Evans as "a vulgarian and a fool," while
> accurate, really doesn't do justice to the full measure of the man. The
> episode Ms. Funke cites can be found on pages 127-129 in the hardcover
> edition of Evans' notorious memoir "The Kid Stays in the Picture,"
published
> by Hyperion in 1994. The bit has provided great amusement to the
> Nabokovphiles toiling on the outskirts of the Dream Factory (e.g., myself
> and some other guy.) Pace Professor Johnson, it begins with Irving
"Swifty"
> Lazar tipping off Evans, then a young production executive at Paramount,
> about Nabokov's new book. Evans then describes N. as "possibly my favorite
> author" (love that "possibly") and then raves "Forget Lolita, which was
> great, but Laughter in the Dark was one of my five favorite books."
> (Incidentally, later in his memoir, Evans will describe in great detail
his
> cuckolding at the hands of Steve McQueen.)
>
> The howlers then come fast and furious. Of the Montreux Palace Hotel,
Evans
> remarks, "It was the off-season. I think the Nabokovs were the hotel's
only
> residents." His attempts to come to grips with Ada really have to be read
to
> be believed-here are some choice bits:
> "I went to my hotel room, not to sleep, but to read, and read, and
> read, and read, and read. There was one problem, I didn't know what I was
> reading. Maybe it's jet lag? I took a Dexamil, at that time a popular
> amphetamine."
>
> "Now going into my seventy-second hour of being awake, I read the
> 900-odd pages yet again. It was torture. I became so angry at my inability
> to understand it, I got up from my bed and began knocking my head against
> the door.
> 'God damn it, Evans, it's Nabokov. Are you this dumb?'"
>
> That last line never fails to crack me up.
>
> It should be noted that he doesn't reveal the title of the book
> until the end of the anecdote, trying to make it a punchline of sorts. The
> whole story is basically just another self-congratulatory tale-it ends
with
> Evans flying back to Los Angeles and informing his masters not to buy the
> rights to the book, and he then gloats about Columbia buying it and never
> making a film out of it.
>
> Not to come to Evans' defense, or anything, but if it's true that
> nothing is more exhilarating than philistine vulgarity, his memoir is one
of
> the most exhilarating things ever committed to print...
>
> Glenn Kenny
> Premiere Magazine
>
> > ----------
> > From: D. Barton Johnson
> > Reply To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
> > Sent: Friday, March 21, 2003 10:07 PM
> > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > Subject: Fw: Dmtiri Nabokov responds re film Producer Evans and _Ada_
> >
> > ----------------------------------------
> >
> >
> > EDNOTE. I have appended Sarah Funke's original note re Evans/ADA to DN's
> > responsejust below.
> >
> > ------------------------
> >
> >
> >
> > Dear NABOKV_L
> >
> > Regarding the item Sarah Funke supplied, please post the following:
> >
> > If the citation is correct Mr. Evans is a vulgarian and a fool. In the
> > first place, my father did not "peddle" his books or anything else
except
> > his bicycle, which he did pedal. In the second, it does not take much
grey
> > matter to realize that rushing through Ada at breakneck speed once,
twice,
> > or many times is not the way to make sense of it.
> >
> >
> > Dmitri
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------
> > ORIGINAL SARAH FUNKE POSTING
> >
> > ORIGINAL EDNOTE. NABOKV-L thanks Sarah Funke who is, among much else,
the
> > compiler/editior of the elegant book catalogue "Vera's Butterflies" put
> > out
> > by the book dealer Glen Horowitz in New York.
> > I am a bit leery of the story here since VN's cinematic dealings
were
> > handled by the mega-agent Irving "Swifty" Lazar. Also, Evans must have
> > been
> > a speed reader if he got thru ADA twice in one night.
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: < SarahFunke@aol.com>
> >
> >
> > l am told that in his memoir _The Kid Stays in the Picture_, movie
> > producer Robert Evans includes
> > A lengthy anecdote "about a meeting with Nabokov, who was peddling the
> > manuscript of Ada to Hollywood for a film adaptation. Evans read the
> > manuscript twice through, during the night before his meeting, and he
> > couldn't make any sense of it, so he passed on the project. He also
talkS
> > about Laughter in the Dark as one of his favorite novels of all time..."
> >
> > Best,
> >
> > Sarah Funke
> >
> >