Appearing here in the New Year
This week we’re rolling out several new pages on the site (the other part of “we” being the design superpowers of Mackenzie McCluer). You’ll see posts running on this home page, with everything from basic Nabokov background information to guest pieces and new historical tidbits about the man and his century.
I’m classifying the posts on this page into four categories: News, Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. NEWS will cover new information about the book. BEGINNER and INTERMEDIATE will be posts for those interested in reading more about Nabokov and/or the 20th-century history that shaped his life. Soon, for those visitors already addicted to Nabokov, I’ll start including posts in the LEXICAL MADNESS category, which takes its title from a Michael Wood review. This category will be devoted to wandering farther into the odd crevices and ideas of Nabokov’s work.
Also new today are the items on the crimson navigation bar near the top of each page. More information about The Secret History (and me!) can be found, surprisingly enough, on the BOOK and AUTHOR pages respectively.
Upcoming March book signings and readings in Manhattan and DC are posted on the EVENTS page, with more dates and cities coming soon. (I’m particularly excited about speaking at a program of the 92nd Street Y as part of their lunchtime Tribeca series, not only because the Y has such an amazing history in American arts and letters but also because Nabokov himself did a reading at the Y in April 1964.)
Information on reaching my publisher, Pegasus Books, and myself is on the CONTACT page, and in the next few days, the BIBLIOGRAPHY page will go live. Eventually, in the spirit of Nabokovian playfulness, we’ll roll out an assortment of games and other amusements on the DIVERSIONS page. And once the book is out, portions of declassified intelligence files and other material not under copyright will be posted in the RECORDS section.
This site is meant to be about more than just the promotion of one book. We’ll be looking at Nabokov and his century in all kinds of ways that I didn’t have time or space to put into the print version. And twenty percent of author’s proceeds—any royalties I receive after publication of the book or advances for foreign publication—minus any fees for copyright and permissions) will be divided evenly between 1) organizations devoted to the study of the life and works of Vladimir Nabokov, and 2) groups exploring or preserving the history of the Gulag and the Holocaust. In future posts, I’ll be talking about these organizations, which are all worth your time and attention.
In addition, if there’s anything you’d like to know about Nabokov, or questions about particular points in history, people you’d like to see interviewed, or guest posters you want to see on here, please don’t hesitate to make a request, and I’ll see what I can do.
