How the Publishing Industry Failed "Lolita" (as told by terrible book covers)

“I want pure colors, melting clouds, accurately drawn details, a sunburst above a receding road with the light reflected in furrows and ruts, after rain. And no girls.” -Vladimir Nabokov’s instructions for the cover design of ’Lolita’ The difficulty of publishing a book like Lolita, not to mention the difficulty of how to market and sell the novel, has been consistent since its first publishing in 1955. In this video, I discuss the history of Lolita’s book cover design and explore why such a novel is consistently misunderstood in pop culture. Works Cited: 1. John Bertram -- 2. Dieter E. Zimmer -- Lolita/ 3. Peter Mendelsund in “Lolita: The Story of a Cover Girl“ edited by John Bertram and Yuri Leving Music: Lobo Loco -- Salvation Dee Yan-Key -- Rainy Holiday Ketsa -- Unsilenced Artwork from: “Lolita: The Story of a Cover