One of the more beneficial side effects of the stir created by Dmitri Nabokov's decision to publish his father Vladimir's last, unfinished novel, The Original of Laura (never mind VN's express injunction against ever doing so) has been the posthumous second wind accorded to the twentieth century's greatest writer as once again we revisit, in the company of literary-minded journalists, the Berlin years, the Paris years, and the Cornell years--especially the latter, between the tragic obscurity of exile and the triumphant return to Europe on wings of Pale Fire and Lolita. And, thanks to the magic of You Tube, the old magician can be seen eternally chatting, in French, with Bernard Pivot, host of the French literary TV program Apostrophes, sometime in the early 1970s (this was the program during which it was revealed that the "tea" VN had been pouring for himself from a teapot, on camera, was actually Scotch). Also on You Tube, a fan with the suggestive moniker of "Dolores Haze" has posted this collage of filmy film depicting Nabokov chasing butterflies, strolling down avenues, etc., against a silken backdrop of Nat King Cole.  And yesterday my friends James Hynes and Ed Combs, keenly aware of my VN predilection, each forwarded me links to this splendid collection of visual Nabokoviana from LIFE magazine, itself revisiting that golden age when Vera, God bless her, took dictation and Vladimir mused over his index cards in the passenger seat of their Buick Special, as shown in the photo above. St. Petersburg and Russia lay far behind; Montreux, and glory, not so far in the future. But at that moment all around him was the peaceful, leafy world of Ithaca, NY, and American academe: the world of Pnin.
      I don't know about you, but I can't get enough of it.