Vickers notes that this version of Lolita is one Nabokov’s wife, Vera, would have recognized. She gave her opinion in her diary, writing, “I wish someone would notice the tender description of the child’s helplessness, her pathetic dependence upon the monstrous HH, and her heartrending courage all along, culminating in that squalid, but essentially pure and healthy marriage, and her letter, and her dog ... They all miss that ‘the horrid little brat’ Lolita is essentially very good indeed - or she would not have straightened out after being crushed so terribly, and found a decent life with poor Dick more to her liking than the other kind.” On this note, Vickers ends the discussion, writing that this observation returns him to his starting point: Lolita’s bad press has shaped her image in popular culture more than her character in the novel.

Vickers’ book is a good read, giving a thorough investigation on the many ways Lolita has entered the public consciousness, including entertainment, fashion, artifacts, tabloid news and sexual mores. His own position is made clear from the beginning of the book, and he makes a persuasive argument about the distortions the character suffered as she became a quick slogan for a teenage temptress. The writing is lively, spiced with enough stories about the people involved in the various productions to keep the narrative from dryness. I enjoyed Chasing Lolita and recommend it to anyone with an interest in Nabokov’s novel. The book comes out in August, published by Chicago Review Press, and helps mark the 50th anniversary of the August publication of Lolita in the US.