Alex Beam's new book is The Feud: Vladimir Nabokov, Edmund Wilson, and the End of a Beautiful Friendship.From his Q&A with Deborah Kalb:
Q: How would you describe their [Wilson-Nabokov] friendship?Visit Alex Beam's website and Twitter perch.
A: It was very beautiful. It’s no accident those letters [between them] were printed twice. It’s not only beautiful, it’s erudite, very candid. It’s the friendship every writer wants, the kind of friendship you’re lucky to have—people who like you and your work but can offer honest criticism.
The sense now is that a lot of the friendship was expressed itself through letters. That assigns it a slightly different quality—it could be the 18th century. We can’t see or hear their conversation, but we can savor the letters.
Q: So was it really a disagreement over Nabokov’s translation of Eugene Onegin that caused the friendship to end?
A: The book, which is blessedly short, in...[read on]
My Book, The Movie: Gracefully Insane.
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The Page 99 Test: Great Idea at the Time.
The Page 99 Test: American Crucifixion.
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