Subject
Re: VN at 99 /Gogol (fwd)
Date
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>From Mary Bellino (iambe@javanet.com):
Here's a tribute to one of VN's favorite authors (and one who's now
being discussed on this list): there is a delightful rewriting of
Gogol's "The Overcoat" by T. Coraghessan Boyle. It's set in Soviet
Russia in the late 70's or so, and it's very, very funny. I think it ran
originally in The Atlantic; it's now available in a Boyle collection
called _Greasy Lake_ in the Vintage Contemporary series. Even Jeff
Edmunds would have to admit that his life is better than that of Akaky's
Soviet reincarnation.
As our "personal tribute" to VN, a friend and I decided to go out to
dinner to celebrate his 99th. There is actually a Russian restaurant
about 20 miles from us, but we voted unanimously not to go to it (there
are limits!). Casting about for some other type of cuisine that might
have appealed to him, all I could come up with was a simile involving
Birdseye frozen peas, made actually by Vera when she was trying to help
out with one of his lectures (it's in VNAY somewhere). A valuable peek
into the minutiae of the Nabokovs' domestic life, but not exactly
helpful. Guess I'll proceed on the hypothesis that he would have liked
Thai food had he ever tried any.
Here's a tribute to one of VN's favorite authors (and one who's now
being discussed on this list): there is a delightful rewriting of
Gogol's "The Overcoat" by T. Coraghessan Boyle. It's set in Soviet
Russia in the late 70's or so, and it's very, very funny. I think it ran
originally in The Atlantic; it's now available in a Boyle collection
called _Greasy Lake_ in the Vintage Contemporary series. Even Jeff
Edmunds would have to admit that his life is better than that of Akaky's
Soviet reincarnation.
As our "personal tribute" to VN, a friend and I decided to go out to
dinner to celebrate his 99th. There is actually a Russian restaurant
about 20 miles from us, but we voted unanimously not to go to it (there
are limits!). Casting about for some other type of cuisine that might
have appealed to him, all I could come up with was a simile involving
Birdseye frozen peas, made actually by Vera when she was trying to help
out with one of his lectures (it's in VNAY somewhere). A valuable peek
into the minutiae of the Nabokovs' domestic life, but not exactly
helpful. Guess I'll proceed on the hypothesis that he would have liked
Thai food had he ever tried any.