Nabokovians may be interested in the latest work by Bobbie Ann Mason, who wrote Nabokov's Garden (a book which derived from her doctoral dissertation on Ada) in 1974. Mason has, of course, gone on to a highly regarded literary career of her own. Perhaps her best-known work is In Country. Her latest novel is The Girl in the Blue Beret (2011), which tells the story of a WWII pilot revisiting the places and people he encountered after his plane was shot down by the Germans. It is an interesting book, but not really at all Nabokovian. I attended a recent reading Mason gave in Asheville, NC, and chatted with her briefly. She had earlier responded to a question about the authors she believed most influenced her writing, and cited VN. She says she does not follow Nabokov criticism at all any more, but continues to cherish his works. She also said I was probably the only living American who read and remembered Nabokov's Garden! I assured her there were others...
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Sam
Dr. Samuel Schuman
sschuman@unca.edu
828-258-3621
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