The Magician's Doubts by Wood
As a child in Russia, Vladimir Nabokov enjoyed conjuring: "I loved doing simple tricks--turning water into wine, that kind of thing". In this engrossing book Michael Wood explores the blend of arrogance and mischief that makes Nabokov such a fascinating and elusive master of fiction".Michael Wood's study of Nabokov is a stunningly brilliant analysis of how, as he says, the sly idiot, the haughty mandarin, and the great, doubting magician get along together in works like Lolita and Ada.... In his own beautifully supple and attractive prose, [Wood] renders his insights with grace and wisdom. The Magician's Doubts is, quite simply, a wonderful book, not to be passed up".--Edward Said"This is a fine example of an endangered species: the full- length book of literary criticism dedicated to the appreciation and interpretation of a single author, addressed to the general reader.... Reading The Magician's Doubts, we re-experience and recover ... pleasures of Nabokov's texts we may have forgotten or overlooked".--David Lodge, The New York Times Book Review"Wood's book is so thronged with pleasures, so acute in its insights, so replete with clear thoughts limpidly expressed, that one could...write a review of it consisting entirely of quotations from the text.... [It] offers us an entirely new set of insights into the work of a modern master".--John Banville, The New York Review of Books
"Michael Wood's study of Nabokov is a stunningly brilliant analysis of how, as he says, the sly idiot, the haughty mandarin, and the great, doubting magician get along together in works like Lolita and Ada... In his own beautifully supple and attractive prose, [Wood] renders his insights with grace and wisdom. The Magician's Doubts is, quite simply, a wonderful book, not to be passed up."--Edward Said
"Wood's book is so thronged with pleasures, so acute in its insights, so replete with clear thoughts limpidly expressed, that one could. . . write a review of it consisting entirely of quotations from the text. . . . [It] offers us an entirely new set of insights into the work of a modern master."---John Banville, The New York Review of Books
"This is a fine example of an endangered species: the full-length book of literary criticism dedicated to the appreciation and interpretation of a single author, addressed to the general reader. . . . Reading The Magician's Doubts, we re-experience and recover . . . pleasures of Nabokov's texts we may have forgotten or overlooked."---David Lodge, The New York Times Book Review
"Wood's book is so thronged with pleasures, so acute in its insights, so replete with clear thoughts limpidly expressed, that one could. . . write a review of it consisting entirely of quotations from the text. . . . [It] offers us an entirely new set of insights into the work of a modern master."---John Banville, The New York Review of Books
"This is a fine example of an endangered species: the full-length book of literary criticism dedicated to the appreciation and interpretation of a single author, addressed to the general reader. . . . Reading The Magician's Doubts, we re-experience and recover . . . pleasures of Nabokov's texts we may have forgotten or overlooked."---David Lodge, The New York Times Book Review
Michael Wood is Charles Barnwell Straut Professor of English at Princeton University. His previous works include Stendhal and America in the Movies.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780691006321 |
| ISBN 10 | 0691006326 |
| Title | The Magician's Doubts |
| Author | Wood |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Princeton University Press |
| Year published | 1995-07-30 |
| Number of pages | 260 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |