The Magician's Doubts: Nabokov and the Risks of FictionAs a child in Russia, Vladimir Nabokov enjoyed conjuring: I loved doing simple tricks turning water into wine, that kind of thing. In this engrossing book Michael Wood explores the blend of arrogance and mischief that makes Nabokov such a fascinating and elusive master of fiction. Wood argues that Nabokov is neither the aesthete he liked to pretend to be nor the heavy handed moralist recent critics make him. Major works like Pnin, Lolita, Pale Fire