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    The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov: A Novel
    Unavailable
    The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov: A Novel
    Unavailable
    The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov: A Novel
    Ebook417 pages6 hours

    The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov: A Novel

    By Paul Russell

    4.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    In his novel based on the extraordinary life of the brother of Vladimir Nabokov, Paul Russell re-creates the rich and changing world in which Sergey, his family and friends lived; from wealth and position in pre-revolutionary Russia to the halls of Cambridge University and the Parisian salon of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. But it is the honesty and vulnerability of Sergey, our young gay narrator, that hook the reader: his stuttering childhood in the shadow of his brilliant brother, his opium-fueled evenings with Cocteau, his troubled love life on the margins of the Ballets Russes and its legendary cast, and his isolation in war-torn Berlin.

    A meticulously researched novel, featuring an extraordinary cast of characters (including Picasso, Diaghilev, Stravinsky, Magnus Hirschfield, and of course the master himself, Vladimir Nabokov), this is ultimately the story of a beautiful and vulnerable boy growing into an enlightened and courageous man.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCleis Press
    Release dateNov 8, 2011
    ISBN9781573447324
    Unavailable
    The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov: A Novel
    Author

    Paul Russell

    Paul Russell is the author of The Salt Point and the Ferro-Grumley Award–winning The Coming Storm. The recipient of many nominations and awards for his writing, he is the author of The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov, named by The Washington Post as one of the five most important books of the year. A writing professor at Vassar and the only author to have received the Ferro-Grumley Award twice, he lives in Poughkeepsie, NY.

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    Reviews for The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov

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    • 5/5
      Most people who like to read know who Vladimir Nabokov was. Until this book, almost no one had heard of Sergey Nabokov. Sergey was Vladimir’s brother, younger by only 11 months. Throughout childhood the stuttering Sergey stood in the shadow of his charismatic brother, largely ignored by parents that had two children too close together. He was gay, something that his famous brother was not happy with. Born in Russia in 1900, his early life was one of comfortable wealth but uncomfortable emotions. All too soon, the Russian Revolution scattered his family and destroyed the wealth, leaving Sergey with only his talent for languages to fall back on. He eked out a bare living by giving language lessons and doing translations. Despite his poverty, his life was rich in artistic acquaintances- Cocteau, Diaghilev, Stein, Toklas, poets and dancers and composers were among his friends and lovers. Eventually, he died in a Nazi concentration camp, having committed the two crimes of being gay and speaking out against the Nazi régime. This book is a novel, not a biography although it is very well researched. Sergey speaks to us in first person, alternating between telling us of his youth and the tense days that build up to his arrest by the Nazis. He comes across as an appealing man, one who craves the love of his family and a stable relationship. While possessing no great talents himself, he loved the avant garde art that was current in Europe at the time, giving up food to be able to attend shows. The book is a marvelous look at the art crowd, with all its foibles and flamboyance. Sergey’s search for happiness, which eludes him for so many years before finally being rewarded, is all the more poignant for knowing that it will end all too soon.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Most people who like to read know who Vladimir Nabokov was. Until this book, almost no one had heard of Sergey Nabokov. Sergey was Vladimir?s brother, younger by only 11 months. Throughout childhood the stuttering Sergey stood in the shadow of his charismatic brother, largely ignored by parents that had two children too close together. He was gay, something that his famous brother was not happy with. Born in Russia in 1900, his early life was one of comfortable wealth but uncomfortable emotions. All too soon, the Russian Revolution scattered his family and destroyed the wealth, leaving Sergey with only his talent for languages to fall back on. He eked out a bare living by giving language lessons and doing translations. Despite his poverty, his life was rich in artistic acquaintances- Cocteau, Diaghilev, Stein, Toklas, poets and dancers and composers were among his friends and lovers. Eventually, he died in a Nazi concentration camp, having committed the two crimes of being gay and speaking out against the Nazi r?gime. This book is a novel, not a biography although it is very well researched. Sergey speaks to us in first person, alternating between telling us of his youth and the tense days that build up to his arrest by the Nazis. He comes across as an appealing man, one who craves the love of his family and a stable relationship. While possessing no great talents himself, he loved the avant garde art that was current in Europe at the time, giving up food to be able to attend shows. The book is a marvelous look at the art crowd, with all its foibles and flamboyance. Sergey?s search for happiness, which eludes him for so many years before finally being rewarded, is all the more poignant for knowing that it will end all too soon.