Skip to Main Content (Press Enter)

Pnin

Introduction by David Lodge

By Vladimir Nabokov

By Vladimir Nabokov

By Vladimir Nabokov
Introduction by David Lodge

By Vladimir Nabokov
Introduction by David Lodge

By Vladimir Nabokov

By Vladimir Nabokov

Best Seller

Part of Vintage International

Part of Everyman's Library Contemporary Classics Series

Part of Vintage International

Category: Fiction

Category: Fiction | Fiction Classics

Category: Fiction

Paperback $17.00

Jun 18, 1989 | ISBN 9780679723417

Hardcover $25.00

Apr 06, 2004 | ISBN 9781400041985

Ebook $11.99

Feb 16, 2011 | ISBN 9780307787477

All Formats
+
    Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov
    Paperback $17.00
    Jun 18, 1989 | ISBN 9780679723417

    Buy from Other Retailers:

    See All Formats (2) +

    Paperback
    –

    • Paperback $17.00

      Jun 18, 1989 | ISBN 9780679723417

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Hardcover
    +

    • Hardcover $25.00

      Apr 06, 2004 | ISBN 9781400041985

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Ebook
    +

    • Ebook

      Feb 16, 2011 | ISBN 9780307787477

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Buy the Ebook:

    About Pnin

    Pnin is a professor of Russian at an American college who takes the wrong train to deliver a lecture in a language he cannot master. Pnin is a tireless lover who writes to his treacherous Liza: "A genius needs to keep so much in store, and thus cannot offer you the whole of himself as I do." Pnin is the focal point of subtle academic conspiracies he cannot begin to comprehend, yet he stages a faculty party to end all faculty parties forever.

    About Pnin

    One of the best-loved of Nabokov’s novels, Pnin features his funniest and most heart-rending character. Professor Timofey Pnin is a haplessly disoriented Russian émigré precariously employed on an American college campus in the 1950s. Pnin struggles to maintain his dignity through a series of comic and sad misunder-standings, all the while falling victim both to subtle academic conspiracies and to the manipulations of a deliberately unreliable narrator.

    Initially an almost grotesquely comic figure, Pnin gradually grows in stature by contrast with those who laugh at him. Whether taking the wrong train to deliver a lecture in a language he has not mastered or throwing a faculty party during which he learns he is losing his job, the gently preposterous hero of this enchanting novel evokes the reader’s deepest protective instinct.

    Serialized in The New Yorker and published in book form in 1957, Pnin brought Nabokov both his first National Book Award nomination and hitherto unprecedented popularity.

    About Pnin

    Pnin is a professor of Russian at an American college who takes the wrong train to deliver a lecture in a language he cannot master. Pnin is a tireless lover who writes to his treacherous Liza: "A genius needs to keep so much in store, and thus cannot offer you the whole of himself as I do." Pnin is the focal point of subtle academic conspiracies he cannot begin to comprehend, yet he stages a faculty party to end all faculty parties forever.

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Also in Vintage International

    The Rainbow
    Mosquitoes

    Also in Vintage International

    The Rainbow
    Mosquitoes

    Also by Vladimir Nabokov

    Letters to Véra
    The Tragedy of Mister Morn
    The Original of Laura
    Selected Poems of Vladimir Nabokov
    Vintage Nabokov
    See all books by Vladimir Nabokov

    Also by Vladimir Nabokov

    Letters to Véra
    The Tragedy of Mister Morn
    The Original of Laura
    Selected Poems of Vladimir Nabokov
    Vintage Nabokov
    See all books by Vladimir Nabokov

    Also by Vladimir Nabokov

    Letters to Véra
    The Tragedy of Mister Morn
    The Original of Laura
    Selected Poems of Vladimir Nabokov
    Vintage Nabokov
    See all books by Vladimir Nabokov

    About Vladimir Nabokov

    Vladimir Nabokov studied French and Russian literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, then lived in Berlin and Paris, writing prolifically in Russian under the pseudonym Sirin. In 1940, he left France for America, where he wrote some of his greatest works—Bend Sinister (1947), Lolita (1955), Pnin (1957),… More about Vladimir Nabokov

    About Vladimir Nabokov

    Vladimir Nabokov studied French and Russian literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, then lived in Berlin and Paris, writing prolifically in Russian under the pseudonym Sirin. In 1940, he left France for America, where he wrote some of his greatest works—Bend Sinister (1947), Lolita (1955), Pnin (1957),… More about Vladimir Nabokov

    About Vladimir Nabokov

    Vladimir Nabokov studied French and Russian literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, then lived in Berlin and Paris, writing prolifically in Russian under the pseudonym Sirin. In 1940, he left France for America, where he wrote some of his greatest works—Bend Sinister (1947), Lolita (1955), Pnin (1957),… More about Vladimir Nabokov

    Product Details

    Category: Fiction

    Paperback | $17.00
    Published by Vintage
    Jun 18, 1989 | 208 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780679723417

    Category: Fiction | Fiction Classics

    Hardcover | $25.00
    Published by Everyman’s Library
    Apr 06, 2004 | 184 Pages | 5 x 8 | ISBN 9781400041985

    Category: Fiction

    Ebook | $11.99
    Published by Vintage
    Feb 16, 2011 | 208 Pages | ISBN 9780307787477
    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

    Praise

    “Hilariously funny and of a sadness.” –Graham Greene

    “Pnin’s vita, though its essence is saintliness, is yet a work of brilliant magic and fabulous laughter.” –The New Republic

    “Fun and satire are just the beginning of the rewards of this novel. Generous, bewildered Pnin, that most kindly and impractical of men, wins our affection and respect.” –Chicago Tribune

    “Nabokov can move you to laughter in the way the masters can–to laughter that is near to tears.” –The Guardian

    Looking for More Great Reads?
    21 Books You’ve Been Meaning to Read
    Get the latest updates about Vladimir Nabokov
    And go from well-read to best read with book recs, deals and more in your inbox every week.
    And go from well-read to best read with book recs, deals and more in your inbox every week.
    By clicking “SIGN UP”, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Penguin Random House’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and understand that Penguin Random House collects certain categories of personal information for the purposes listed in that policy, discloses, sells, or shares certain personal information and retains personal information in accordance with the policy. You can opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information anytime.
    Dismiss
    Thanks!
    Something awesome is on its way.
    Back to Top

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Raise kids who love to read

    Raise kids who love to read

    Today's Top Books

    Want to know what people are actually reading right now?

     An online magazine for today’s home cook

    An online magazine for today’s home cook