Lolita by Nabokov, Vladimir - 1955

New York: Putnam & Sons, 1955. First American edition. Near Fine/Near Fine. Near Fine, a tight square copy, top stained red. Some offsetting to the edges of boards. In a like jacket with slight sunning to spine and shelfwear to panels. Some creasing and small closed tears to top of rear panel with no paper loss. Red endpapers. Internally clean and unmarked.

This controversial novel is frequently on the list of top books from the past century. Originally released in France because American publishers were wary of such "obscene" material, Lolita tangles sexual taboo and violence with incredibly seductive prose. "Shocking is the reaction the author somehow manages to elicit from his readers: empathy. Readers always read, I think, out of a tremendous curiosity about other human beings, we're looking for another soul on the page, and that's what Nabokov has so fearlessly, so complexly, so gorgeously given us. In a lesser writer's hands, we could easily dismiss Mr. Humbert as a monster, but Nabokov denies us that all-too comfortable option. Even if we would never condone his vain and deadly infatuation, we understand it. We're complicit in his sins, and our complicity is seductive and terrifying" (Johnston). Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket.