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Excerpt of Nabokov's Unpublished Final Work to Appear in Playboy
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Mysterious engulfing blackness sold separately.
Source: amazon.com
The late Vladimir Nabokov's unfinished novella, The Original of Laura, is set to see the light of day this November, per The New York Observer. And while it will be published in full by Knopf, Playboy has gained rights to print a 5,000 word excerpt a week before the book hits shelves.
It came at a steep price, though. According to the magazine's literary editor, Amy Grace Loyd, the magazine has never paid more for a book excerpt.
Vladimir Nabokov is considered one of the 20th century's greatest writers. He is best known for his controversial novel Lolita, which made both Time Magazine and the Modern Library's lists of the 100 Best English Language Novels of the 20th century. He passed away in 1977.
Nabokov's son, Dmitri, has long maintained that his father wished the manuscript to remain obscured from the public. As of last spring, though, agent Andrew Wylie had been enlisted to shop for publishers.
Shortly after Knopf purchased the novella, Loyd began an enthusiastic pursuit for first serial rights. She claims to have done it by sending Wylie orchids--a reference to Nabokov's Ada, or Ardor, which Playboy previewed in 1969. “It was part of my pitch to Andrew that Nabokov really liked publishing with Playboy, and how devoted Hef is to Nabokov and his legacy,” Loyd said.
Several months of wooing later, Playboy acquired the rights (after The New Yorker's fiction department allegedly showed no interest in the manuscript). An unusual point of the negotiation, and perhaps a testament to Nabokov's talent, was that Ms. Loyd make an offer before even reading the excerpt.
The selection is set to appear in the December issue of Playboy, which will hit newsstands November 10.
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