Vladimir Nabokov the American Years

The second of a two-volume biography of Vladimir Nabokov, one of the great writers of the 20th century, this book continues with his arrival in the United States in 1940. It describes both his anguish at having to abandon his native Russian language and his relief at finding a home in America after years of exile. In 1955 "Lolita", Nabokov's best-known work, was published to worldwide acclaim - and censure. An intensely private man, he was bemused by the speed with which the book's publication made him almost a household name, but also grateful that its success gave him the financial stability to withdraw from the glare of publicity to a solitary life in a Swiss hotel.