Home
/
Fiction
/
Nabokov's Dozen
Nabokov's Dozen
Dec 2, 2025 4:12 PM

Author:Vladimir Nabokov

Nabokov's Dozen

Introducing Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith

Celebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics, they take us from snowy Japan to springtime Vienna, from haunted New England to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island, and from a game of chess on the ocean to a love story on the moon. Beautifully designed and printed, these collectible editions are bound in colourful, tactile cloth and stamped with foil.

Thirteen ingeniously crafted stories make up Vladimir Nabokov's baker's dozen. In some of these stories shadowy people pass through, cooped up by life, with nowhere to escape. In others, elusive glimpses of fleeting happiness, which flutter away before they can be snatched, waylay their victims. Like the shimmer of the sea, the gleam of a glass caught by the sun, these stories sparkle brilliantly only to dissolve again.

Reviews

'A true original among contemporary writers'

—— The Times

'Cracking dialogue, compelling illogic and unchained whimsy...Pratchett has a subject and a style that is very much his own'

—— Sunday Times

'Offers more entertainment per page than anything this side of Wodehouse'

—— Washington Post Book World

A stunning achievement. I was completely gripped by it and awed at the sublime skill and beauty of its execution. Darragh has created a work of art of immediate relevance and enduring importance

—— Donal Ryan

A beautifully wrought, startlingly perceptive, stealthily gripping novel about the pain of understanding ourselves and the agony of trying to understand history. It moves masterfully between the forensic and the lyrical, the meditative and the dramatic, the personal and the political

—— Kevin Power

'Darragh McKeon's Remembrance Sunday is a quiet work of art that explores the complexity of trauma in the wake of the Enniskellen bombing. McKeon's writing is sensitive, elusive and philosophical, and pursues an elusive truth at the heart of the Troubles.'

—— Paul Lynch , Sunday Independent

Beautifully written

—— Malachi O'Doherty , Belfast Telegraph

'Thought-provoking ... strong second novel'

—— Bert Wright , Business Post

'A poignant, delicately composed novel that doesn't stint on the wreckage of violence.'

—— Irish Daily Mail

McKeon ... is a writer to watch. He conveys how people who cause harm can sometimes be victims, in their own way, and that takes skill. If you enjoy Colum Mcann's work, this novel is for you.'

—— Martina Devlin , Irish Independent

'... beautifully written, placed in those grey shadows between right and wrong and profound, terrible loss.'

—— Anne Cunningham , Sunday Independent

A beautifully crafted story about the legacy of trauma

—— Sarah Gilmartin , The Irish Times

A supreme storyteller

—— Robert Collins , The Sunday Times Ireland

A thrilling dissection of illusion and reality.

—— SheerLuxe

Lapvona is a sublime work in the truest sense - mighty, irrepressible and terrifying.

—— ArtReview

Like a twisted reworking of A Hundred Years of Solitude... readers will no doubt relish its icy intensity and Old Testament grimness.

—— Spectator

Strange, subversive and utterly unique.

—— Grazia

Weird, unsettling and exciting...Moshfegh writes like a dream - or perhaps a nightmare?

—— Eastern Daily Press

[A] strange, disturbingly funny faux-historical novel.

—— Observer, *Books of the Year*

A brazen, mordantly comic and decidedly odd examination of corruption... proving to be one of the most provocative and divisive reads of the year.

—— i, *Summer Reads of 2022*

Brace yourself for a daring, dizzying fable about corruption.

—— Culture Whisper, *Summer Reads of 2022*

A strange, daring book.

—— Lauren O'Neill , Scotland on Sunday

An addictive read... a curious, unjudging journey into humanity's craters.

—— Face

Lapvona is an interrogation of faith, greed, and abuse - yet Moshfegh's dark humour cackles right through it.

—— Independent, *Summer Reads of 2022*

This unsettling read is unlike anything else.

—— Grazia, *Summer Reads of 2022*

[Lapvona] is unlike anything she's [Moshfegh] written before... a rollercoaster ride exploring the themes of poverty, religion and greed.

—— Hello!, *Summer Reads of 2022*

Moshfegh's novel is bitterly comic, compelling reading, ever-pulsing with perversity.

—— Big Issue

[A] wry, bewitching and slightly dark novel.

—— Monocle, *Christmas Gift Guide 2022*

Moshfegh is one of the most original and astute young novelists working today.

—— Daily Telegraph

The superabundantly talented...Moshfegh's sentences are piercing and vixenish... she is always a deep pleasure to read.

—— New York Times (on MY YEAR OF REST AND RELAXATION)

Funny... Unforgettable... Batuman is particularly good on sex and sexual politics... The star feature is the narration... garrulous, rambunctious... full of baroque riffs and digressions.

—— Claire Lowdown , Spectator

A fresh voice is a rare thing, and Elif Batuman is one such.

—— Times Literary Supplement, *Books of the Year*

Either/Or is extremely funny and delightfully ludic, as it probes the very act of reading from the point of view of confused university student Selin.

—— Anakana Schofield, Irish Times, Books of the Year 2022

I was desperately looking forward to Elif Batuman's Either/Or, and it more than lived up to it.

—— Samir Chadha , White Review, *Books of the Year*

Re-encountering Selin...felt like being reunited with an old friend.

—— Helen Charman , White Review, *Books of the Year*

Hilarious.

—— Alice Hattrick , White Review, *Books of the Year*

I greatly enjoyed the comic zing of Elif Batuman's delightful Either/Or

—— Megan Hunter , White Review, *Books of the Year*

Witty, intelligent and funny... [Selin's] inner monologue is addictive enough to read a thousand more pages of, and I can only cross my fingers that this isn't the last instalment of the series.

—— Crack

Just as funny and self-aware and clever as The Idiot.

—— Jessica Zhan Mei Yu , White Review, *Books of the Year*

Funny, wry and insightful

—— The Times, *Summer Reads of 2023*

Laugh out loud…hilarious and thoughtful

—— Times Literary Supplement, *Books of the Year*
Comments
Welcome to zzdbook comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdbook.com All Rights Reserved