A Letter to Edmund Wilson

Author(s): Vladimir Nabokov

Source: The Kenyon Review, New Series, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Winter, 1979), p. 121
Published by: Kenyon College
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4335023
Accessed: 24/04/2010 14:16
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A LETTERTO EDMUND WILSON

VladimirNabokov

April7, 1947
DearBunny,
I have not had a word from you for ages. How are you? Did you
get my Russianpoem? Roman visitedus recentlyand thought highlyof
it. He flew over with my friendGeorgeHessen for the week-endand we
had a delightfultime-which would havebeen still moredelightfulif you
had been there.
My novel is due to appearin the beginningof June. Somedayyou
will read it again. They sent me a most absurd blurb and after an exchange of telegrams Tate wrote a new one. He has been awfully nice
throughout.I have reachedTolstoy in my Wellesleycourse;it is going to
be repeated next year, but my position is still insecureand the salary
meagre-and I havelittle hope that Bend Sinisterbringsme any money. I
am writingtwo things now 1. a short novel about a man who liked little
girls-and it's going to be called TheKingdomby the Sea-and 2. a new
type of autobiography-a scientificattemptto unraveland traceback all
the tangledthreadsof one's personality-and the provisionaltitle is The
Personin Question.
I have finishedmy main entomologicalpaper,and butterflieswill
be more or less shelved for a year or so. We are thinking of going to
Coloradoor somewherethis summer,if luck lays an egg. Dmitriis doing
very well at school this season, getting wonderfulreports, and we hope
he gets a scholarshipat a good boardingschool. He is 6 feet tall. French
lovers of literaturedo not love the author of bong and 'bsolument,I
learn. I have re-read your Wound and the Bow, and the one on
Hemingway is excellent-except when you explain fluctuations in his
work by fluctuationsin the market. I have also readHomeward,Angel
which I had alwaysbeen afraidto touch-and how rightI was! Thereare
kingfisher-flasheshere and therebut on the whole it is very poor stuff. I
have rereadTheAmer. Tragedy-no specialcomment.
Springis comingon rollerskates.Whenshallwe see both of you?
Yoursever,
V.