anagram of Dmitri Nabokov? V. Sirin II?

September 28, 2009 8:42 AM

What is Dmitri Nabokov's pen name?

I read (on Slate, on wikipedia, etc) that he writes under a pen name but doesn't disclose it. I know that I'm probably not going to find a real answer, but I'm interested in finding academic speculation to read about what it could be. I tried googling for discussion about this but couldn't find a thing.

posted by mustcatchmooseandsquirrel to writing & language (7 comments total)

Besides "Vladimir Sirin," you mean? As for an anagram there's the famous "Vivian Darkbloom" in Lolita.
posted by Kattullus at 9:46 AM on September 28

Guys, Dmitri is the son of Vladimir.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 9:58 AM on September 28

Erm, guy.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 9:59 AM on September 28

OK, more.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19820125&id=EQsVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qgIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6740,7240484

"...his own first work, a series of differing views of reality...is due in 1983, a publication of Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, and it will be published under a nom de plume."

Additionally, this listserv has some speculation as well.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 10:28 AM on September 28

Oops! That was a silly blunder. Well, I don't know Dmitri's pen name but I do know that he's been not disclosing it for a very long time. Here's a Toledo Blade piece from 1982 that does offer the hint that a novel under that pen name is slated to be published by Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich in 1983. If anybody has access to a list of novels published by Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich in 1983 that might produce an answer. Or maybe he didn't go through with publishing it and it's a dead end.
posted by Kattullus at 10:29 AM on September 28

His book does sound intriguing. I'm surprised that there isn't more easily available information out about this.

I tried googling for Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich + 1983 but no luck! I might go tomorrow to ask my university's library if they have a magic database with that information.
posted by mustcatchmooseandsquirrel at 2:25 PM on September 28

Bowker's Books in Print is the magic database--I've searched all the Harcourt novels published in 1983, 1984, and 1985 and all the authors of same seem to be identifiable people who are not Dmitri Nabokov, though.

H'mmmmmmmmmmmmm.
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:46 PM on September 28