Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Véra: (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov)
    Unavailable
    Véra: (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov)
    Unavailable
    Véra: (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov)
    Ebook791 pages12 hours

    Véra: (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov)

    By Stacy Schiff

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the award–winning author of The Revolutionary and The Witches comes “an elegantly nuanced portrait of [Vladimir Nabokov’s] wife, showing us just how pivotal Nabokov’s marriage was to his hermetic existence and how it indelibly shaped his work.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
     
    ONE OF ESQUIRE’S 50 BEST BIOGRAPHIES OF ALL TIME

    “Monumental.”—The Boston Globe
    “Utterly romantic.”—New York magazine
    “Deeply moving.”—The Seattle Times

    Stacy Schiff brings to shimmering life one of the greatest literary love stories of our time: Vladimir Nabokov, émigré author of Lolita; Pale Fire; and Speak, Memory, and his beloved wife, Véra. Nabokov wrote his books first for himself, second for his wife, and third for no one at all. “Without my wife,” he once noted, “I wouldn’t have written a single novel.”
     
    Set in prewar Europe and postwar America, spanning much of the twentieth century, the story of the Nabokovs’ fifty-two-year marriage reads as vividly as a novel. Véra, both beautiful and brilliant, is its outsized heroine—a woman who loves as deeply and intelligently as did the great romantic heroines of Austen and Tolstoy. Stacy Schiff's Véra is a triumph of the biographical form.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRandom House Publishing Group
    Release dateFeb 23, 2011
    ISBN9780307781765
    Unavailable
    Véra: (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov)
    Author

    Stacy Schiff

    Stacy Schiff is the author of Vera (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov), which won the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 2000, and Saint-Exupery, which was a finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize. Schiff's work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, and The Times Literary Supplement. She has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library. She lives in New York City.

    Related to Véra

    Related ebooks

    Literary Biographies For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Most Anticipated: The Great Spring 2024 Preview

      Apr 2, 2024

      April April 2 Women! In! Peril! by Jessie Ren Marshall [F] For starters, excellent title. This debut short story collection from playwright Marshall spans sex bots and space colonists, wives and divorcées, prodding at the many meanings of womanhood.

      25 min read

    • Article

      Most Anticipated: The Great 2023B Book Preview

      Jul 3, 2023

      Six months. 179 books. Here's what we can't wait to read in the second half of 2023. The post Most Anticipated: The Great 2023B Book Preview appeared first on The Millions.

      48 min read

    • Article

      Stacy Schiff

      Dec 15, 2017

      Stacy Schiff
      26 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Caro, Blake, Hammad, Gainza, and More

      Apr 9, 2019

      A non-fiction master's account of his writing process heads up our list of must-read new books for this week. The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Caro, Blake, Hammad, Gainza, and More appeared first on The Millions.

      8 min read

    • Article

      Russian Roulette

      Feb 1, 2021

      As a longterm fan of Dostoevsky (and yes, unusually for a 19th century literary novelist, he does have a kind of fan club, many of whom are adolescents high on the thrill of first encountering his freewheeling combo of philosophical pondering and jaz

      2 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Colvin, Awkward-Rich, Sarginson, Grey, and More

      Dec 10, 2019

      —new titles from the likes of Jeffrey Colvin, Cameron Awkward-Rich, Saskia Sarginson, Iona Grey, and more—t The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Colvin, Awkward-Rich, Sarginson, Grey, and More appeared first on The Millions.

      5 min read

    • Article

      Five Books We Missed in 2015

      Dec 15, 2015

      Five Books We Missed in 2015
      9 min read

    Reviews for Véra

    4/5

    60 ratings3 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      This unobtrusive, worn out, paperback with extra thin yellowing pages (all 456 of them) caught my attention at a used-books store by its simple title: "Vera". Even before I saw the tiny subtitle "Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov", I intuitively knew it had to be Nabokov's wife Vera, her biography. I've always wondered about the woman behind the words "To Vera" - a dedication in almost all Nabokov's books.And this book gave a wealth of information! A most extensive, detailed, and full of substance biography I have ever read - especially a biography of someone who tried so hard to stay in the shadow of her illustrious husband, but nevertheless being so utterly indispensable in his life and creativity. After reading this book, it's clear to me why Nabokov dedicated most of his work to her (and also why Stacy Schiff won a Pulitzer Prize for this book!)Vera Nabokov was indeed a rare lady. Strong-minded, determined woman with a mission ("no hand wringing"), with total devotion to her husband and his work. Fluent in several languages - though very modest about it. The author points out that Vera's "litmus test of good taste was recognition of her husband's genius" (!). She actually "raised Being Mrs. Nabokov to a science and an art and then pretended that such a person did not exist". No wonder she never had any confidantes - her husband got that covered, she practically didn't need anybody else! Also, understandable why there are prototypes of Vera in some of Nabokov's books: he couldn't have done it without her, i.e. his work wouldn't have reached the reader without her unrelenting efforts. I am sure of it. She was unquestionably his muse. But, according to this book, she was definitely not an "angel": she was "fiercely wed to her opinions" and "seemed to enjoy disconcerting people" (!).The Nabokovs as a couple were so inseparable in everything that the book practically covered both of them, not just Vera. It seemed as if "Vera appeared to have some trouble discerning where she ended and her husband began". An interesting point that the author makes is that their son Dmitri "knew how uncommon was the rapport his parents had enjoyed, what an elusive rarity is the "twin soul" ", and as a consequence, though he had a number of relationships, he never married - presumably unable to find anything even close to such a unique connection. I have read but a few of Nabokov's books so far, but am now eager to read the rest - to discover more of Vera in some of them, as she was sure to be a prototype, according to the biography. Also, I would caution any reader not to base their opinion of Nabokov on "Lolita" alone (although this book propelled him into fame) - it wouldn't be fair to him at all.What I liked about Stacy Schiff's writing is her total objectivity - so important in writing a biography. Interestingly, I came out with less awe for Nabokov after reading this book, but with more respect - if that's a possible wording.And another final credit to the author: the book's cover was devised very cleverly - "Vera" in big bold letters and the subtitle "Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov" in tiny ones under it - as if to reverse Vera's image about herself, to get her out from behind the shadow of her famous husband, at least posthumously...
    • 4/5
      immersive and dense, and by the end a bit of a slog, but altogether fascinating story of a woman and a marriage like no other. Stacy Schiff makes their cloistered and inwardly focused life accessible, to the degree it can be made so. Vera was a tough customer and she gave her life to her husband and his genius, using her own to protect him, support him and make what he did possible in many respects. It's a great biography of a great woman, a great lady as they used to say, and it's a treat for Nabokov fans and acolytes.
    • 5/5
      This is the life story of a truly remarkable woman, originally Vera Slonim, who came to have a famous author as a husband and become Mrs. Vera Nabokov. And it is not too much to put the emphasis that way because, even though her husband was Vladimir Nabokov, she was a full and devoted partner in everything he accomplished and had an exceedingly interesting and determined personality as well. He did the writing; she did just about everything else. She typed and re-typed (and re-typed) his manuscripts; handled all the correspondence (originating and signing much of it herself in his name); and dealt with contractual matters, foreign editions and translators. And she was Vladimir's first reader, offering comment and suggestion, while typing, when the phrasing didn't seem right. She decided to learn Italian, and did, to check the quality of the Lolita translation into that language -- and, incidentally, was dismayed at the poor quality! She had a wit and an intellect to match her husband's and they formed a marriage bond and a love that lasted undiminished throughout fifty years.They were inseparable and, just so, is this life story of Vera inseparable from the life of Vladimir Nabokov. His lively personality is seen in his personal life with Vera; in the adulation and affection of his female students for him on campus (which he appreciated, and returned, sometimes personally); in his lecturing manner, which can be seen almost exactly reproduced in Timofey Pnin; and in the exultant publisher's reception when word of Lolita's smashing initial success was reported.As a young man, he was captivated for life when, on their first date, meeting on a dark bridge at night in Berlin, this slender woman emerged from the mists, walking toward him, wearing a mask, and reciting his own poetry to him from memory. That was Vera! Just give her the chance, and you also will be captivated by her and their heartwarming story of mutual love and endearing affection.