As a vegetarian, I don't eat well in France. If I'm lucky, a restaurant might have a roast Camembert on the menu, which is often delicious. But I've never finished one. Me, who was raised to never leave a scrap of food on the plate. It's just too damn rich.

I can easily imagine people feeling that way about Nabokov. Luckily, I don't. I scarf it down like it's about to be taken away from me, and my only regret is that there'll never be any more of it.