Penned by Russian émigré turned American novelist Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (1899-1977), Lolita ranks high among twentieth-century fictional works that have achieved literary acclaim as a result of controversy and censorship. Indeed, the initial rejection of this book by international and American readers produced so much focus on Lolita that rather than being abandoned as obscene pornography, its ideas and theme have survived and continue to influence American popular culture through the millennium.

Briefly, the novel details the tragic yet amusing tale of Humbert Humbert, a dubious European émigré who harbors an obsession for young girls. Upon receiving an inheritance from an uncle, he moves to a small New England town to accept an academic position. Seeking lodging, Humbert rents a room from Charlotte Haze after he encounters her twelve-year-old daughter, Dolores. In time, consumed by his secret passion to be near Dolores, or Lolita as he affectionately calls...