Chasing Lolita: How Popular Culture Corrupted Nabokov's Little Girl All Over Again

260 Pages·2008·1.91 MB·English

by  Graham Vickers

$24.95 (CAN $27.95)
I
n the summer of 1958, a twelve-year-
old girl took the world by storm—
Lolita was published in the United
“You must be confusing me with some other fast little ar-
States. This child, so fresh and alive,
ticle,” says Lolita to stepfather Humbert at one point late in
yet so pitiable in her abuse at the hands of
their bleak relationship. Delivered as a riposte to his flawed
the novel’s narrator, engendered outrage
recollection of one of her early crushes, her wry retort also and sympathy alike, and has continued to
stands as an unconscious prophecy and rebuke. After her do so ever since.
death, Lolita was to become the patron saint of fast little Yet Lolita’s image in the broader pub-
lic consciousness has changed. No longer
articles the world over, not because Nabokov’s mid-1950s
a little girl, Lolita has come to signify a
novel depicted her as such but because, slowly and surely,
precocious temptress, a cunning under-
the media, following Humbert’s unreliable lead, cast her in
age vixen who’ll stop at nothing to get her
that role. —from Chasing LoLita
man. How could this have happened?
Chasing Lolita, published on the fif-
Graham Vickers’s books include Neal tieth anniversary of Lolita’s American
Cassady: The Fast Life of a Beat Hero publication, is an essential contemporary
(with David Sandison), Key Moments in companion to Vladimir Nabokov’s great
Architecture, and 21st Century Hotel. “Eye-opening—a field guide to some of mass culture’s novel. It establishes who Lolita really was
back in 1958, explores her predecessors
more corrosive absurdities. . . . Vickers negotiates the nov-
of all stripes, and examines the multitude
el’s linguistic complexities with critical acumen and a fine
of movies, theatrical shows, literary spin-
sense of Lolita’s moral as well as aesthetic effects.”
offs, artifacts, fashion, art, photography,
—ELLEN PifEr, author of Demon or Doll: images of the
and tabloid excesses that have distorted
Child in Contemporary Writing and Culture and editor of
her identity and stolen her name. It con-
Vladimir nabokov’s Lolita: a Casebook
siders not just the “Lolita effect” but shift-
ing attitudes toward the always volatile
mix of sex, children, and popular enter-
tainment—from Victorian times to the
$24.95 (CAN $27.95)
present. And it also looks at some real-life
ISBN 978-1-55652-682-4 cases of young girls who became the inno-
52 49 5
Jacket design: Sarah Olson cent victims of someone else’s obsession—
Front cover image: MPTV.net
Distributed by unhappy sisters to one of the most affect-
Author photo: Philip Sayer
Independent Publishers Group ing heroines in American fiction, and one
www.ipgbook.com
of the most widely misunderstood.
Printed in the United States of America 9 781556 526824
Chasing Lolita Jacket.indd 1 4/22/08 3:44:31 PM
$24.95 (CAN $27.95)
I
n the summer of 1958, a twelve-year-
old girl took the world by storm—
Lolita was published in the United
“You must be confusing me with some other fast little ar-
States. This child, so fresh and alive,
ticle,” says Lolita to stepfather Humbert at one point late in
yet so pitiable in her abuse at the hands of
their bleak relationship. Delivered as a riposte to his flawed
the novel’s narrator, engendered outrage
recollection of one of her early crushes, her wry retort also and sympathy alike, and has continued to
stands as an unconscious prophecy and rebuke. After her do so ever since.
death, Lolita was to become the patron saint of fast little Yet Lolita’s image in the broader pub-
lic consciousness has changed. No longer
articles the world over, not because Nabokov’s mid-1950s
a little girl, Lolita has come to signify a
novel depicted her as such but because, slowly and surely,
precocious temptress, a cunning under-
the media, following Humbert’s unreliable lead, cast her in
age vixen who’ll stop at nothing to get her
that role. —from Chasing LoLita
man. How could this have happened?
Chasing Lolita, published on the fif-
Graham Vickers’s books include Neal tieth anniversary of Lolita’s American
Cassady: The Fast Life of a Beat Hero publication, is an essential contemporary
(with David Sandison), Key Moments in companion to Vladimir Nabokov’s great
Architecture, and 21st Century Hotel. “Eye-opening—a field guide to some of mass culture’s novel. It establishes who Lolita really was
back in 1958, explores her predecessors
more corrosive absurdities. . . . Vickers negotiates the nov-
of all stripes, and examines the multitude
el’s linguistic complexities with critical acumen and a fine
of movies, theatrical shows, literary spin-
sense of Lolita’s moral as well as aesthetic effects.”
offs, artifacts, fashion, art, photography,
—ELLEN PifEr, author of Demon or Doll: images of the
and tabloid excesses that have distorted
Child in Contemporary Writing and Culture and editor of
her identity and stolen her name. It con-
Vladimir nabokov’s Lolita: a Casebook
siders not just the “Lolita effect” but shift-
ing attitudes toward the always volatile
mix of sex, children, and popular enter-
tainment—from Victorian times to the
$24.95 (CAN $27.95)
present. And it also looks at some real-life
ISBN 978-1-55652-682-4 cases of young girls who became the inno-
52 49 5
Jacket design: Sarah Olson cent victims of someone else’s obsession—
Front cover image: MPTV.net
Distributed by unhappy sisters to one of the most affect-
Author photo: Philip Sayer
Independent Publishers Group ing heroines in American fiction, and one
www.ipgbook.com
of the most widely misunderstood.
Printed in the United States of America 9 781556 526824
Chasing Lolita Jacket.indd 1 4/22/08 3:44:31 PM
Chasing
LoLita
how PoPuLar CuLture
CorruPted nabokov’s LittLe girL
aLL over again
graham viCkers
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Vickers, Graham.
Chasing Lolita : how popular culture corrupted Nabokov’s little girl all over again /
Graham Vickers.
p. cm.
The real life of Dolores Haze: just the facts—Casebooks and fantasies: Dolores Haze’s
oft-told tale—A very 1950s scandal: hurricane Lolita—Lolita in movieland 1: little
victims and little princesses—Lolita in movieland 2: ‘pedophilia is a hard sell’—On the
road: Lolita’s moving prison—Take one: how did they ever make a film of Lolita?—Dra-
matic arts: Lolita center stage—The spirit of free enterprise: every foul poster—Tabloids
and factoids: the press and Lolita—Take two: once more with feeling—Blood sisters:
some responses to Lolita.”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-55652-682-4
1. Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich, 1899–1977 Lolita. 2. Nabokov, Vladimir
Vladimirovich, 1899–1977—Characters—Lolita. 3. Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich,
1899–1977—Film and video adaptations. 4. Popular culture—United States—History—
20th century. 5. Popular culture—United States—History—21st century. 6. Literature
and society—United States—History—20th century. 7. Literature and society—United
States—History—21st century. 8. Lolita (Fictitious character). 9. Girls in literature. 10.
Nymphets in literature I. Title.
PS3527.A15L6375 2008
813’.54—dc22
2007052046
Interior design: Sarah Olson
© 2008 by Graham Vickers
All rights reserved
Published by Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
814 North Franklin Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610
ISBN: 978-1-55652-682-4
Printed in the United States of America
5 4 3 2 1
To Jacqui
Thanks go to my editor Yuval Taylor for supporting this book
from the start and helping to guide it to publication.

“My poor Lolita is having a rough time.”
—Vladimir Nabokov, writing to Graham Greene

CoNteNts
Introduction 1
1 The Real Life of Dolores Haze: Just the Facts 5
2 Casebooks and Fantasies: Dolores Haze’s Oft-Told Tale 23
3 A Very 1950s Scandal: Hurricane Lolita 41
4 Lolita in Movieland 1: Little Victims and Little Princesses 55
5 Lolita in Movieland 2: “Pedophilia Is a Hard Sell” 71
6 On the Road: Lolita’s Moving Prison 93
7 Take One: How Did They Ever Make a Film of Lolita? 109
8 Dramatic Arts: Lolita Center Stage 131
9 The Spirit of Free Enterprise: Every Foul Poster 145
10 Tabloids and Factoids: The Press and Lolita 165
11 Take Two: Once More, with Feeling 185
12 Blood Sisters: Some Responses to Lolita 205
Conclusion 225

Bibliography 233
Index 235