Classics That Made a Difference
Books that have stood the test of time, loved by Oprah, Gwyneth, Julia and more...
From the book finder
From the book finder
Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov
This novella is explicitly a book about ridicule and caricature—Professor Pnin is a joke of a man on a college campus. He's an awkward Russian émigré with bad English, false teeth, a clumsy sense of humor, a tendency to burst into tears or take offense at small slights. Everybody on campus can do an impression of him. He's a clown. But at the core of the book is the idea that there is a Pnin who is as real as the people who ridicule him. You are invited to laugh at him, and then you are humbled and shamed by your own laughter. It's a gorgeous, hilarious, humane book that uncovers the reality of a man's life in sly, piecemeal fashion. I think it's my favorite novel.
— Zadie Smith
See all the books that made a difference to Zadie Smith
— Zadie Smith
See all the books that made a difference to Zadie Smith
From the July 2009 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine