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# Putnam's cover cites Nabokov's “Pnin” to draw on the success of “Lolita”
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/18-avgusta-1958-goda-roman-nabokova-lolita-byl-vpervye-napechatan-v-ssha-i-vo-vtoroi-raz-na-angliiskom-iazyke/
- Published: 2021-08-18T10:11:02.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T19:02:08.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Books, Observations, Humour

On 18 August 1958 Nabokov's "Lolita" was first published in the USA and for the second time in English.

The cover of the New York: Putnam's edition bore the legend "by the author of Pnin". What sort of Pnin was that?

It was Nabokov's lesser-known novel, issued the year before, about a teacher of Russian and literature who tries to fit into the academic world of the USA. By reminding readers of Timofey Pnin, the publishers hoped to hitch a work neglected by the public to the success of "Lolita". Another question is how one could ever have called a novel Pnin.