Playboy Gets First Serial Rights to Nabokov's "The Original of Laura"



Nabokov checkmates his wife, Vera. She dreams of revenge.

Vladimir Nabokov's unfinished novel -- the one he instructed his wife to burn but which will now be published by his son in November -- will appear for the first time as an excerpt in the pages of Playboy.Young Dmitri Nabokov originally wanted the excerpt to appear in the New Yorker, but the New Yorker wasn't interested in the young, pert, unfinished piece.Playboy's literary editor Amy Grace Loyd sent Andrew Wylie orchids all spring long to remind him that Nabokov's book "Ada, or Ardor" was first excerpted in Playboy in 1969, and that there is no shame in a novel appearing unedited (or "nude") in the pages of a salacious men's magazine.In fact, if done properly with the right airbrushing and lighting, it could even be tasteful.Even "artistic."From The New York Observer , who broke the story:"There were a few sticking points in the negotiation, chiefly the fact that Mr. Wylie wanted Ms. Loyd to give an offer on the book without first reading a page of it. But "I knew because of Nabokov's genius, even if the manuscript was even more messy than it actually is, I would probably still be content," Ms. Loyd said.Terms were finalized during the third week of June. "I'm happy to tell you we've never paid this much for a book excerpt before, ever," Ms. Loyd said, adding: "There are parts of it that are much more cohesive than others. But I found it fascinating in that way."The plan right now is for a 5,000-word excerpt to run in Playboy's December issue, which arrives on stands on Nov. 10Ã¢ÂÂ"about a week before Knopf will ship the book to stores."I'm so glad all those orchids did not die in vain," Ms. Loyd said. "I don't imagine anybody's taking good care of them over there."Once upon a time porn magazines had to contain literature in order to sell copies. Perhaps it is time for literary magazines to consider...branching out?Call us, Mrs. Rowling! We will be so fucking professional!