Infinite Joe

Nabakov's mastery of the English language and of English prose is astounding, considering English is his second (or third?) language, and that he left Russia at 18 for Europe, left there for America when he was 41, and published this book a little more than a decade after that. Authors of contemporary fiction can only dream to write as well as Nabakov does.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this character study of the Russian emigre who "teaches" at an American university. Timofey Pnin evokes many feelings out of the reader, including pity, fondness, and disappointment (among a laundry list of others) which is what what makes the book so good. Many of the situations you find him in leaving you laughing and cringing at the same time, while always rooting for him to make it through somehow.

Time to put more Nabakov on my "To-Read" shelf.