Pale Fire

John Shade wrote one of the most highly prized works of poetry in his lifetime, Pale Fire. The poet is dead now, and a book containing his last poem has been published. A long commentary by a fictitious critic and editor is included in the text. This figure, known as the Great Beaver, has tendencies toward madness, bad behavior, and even danger. His annotations contain more than he should be revealing to the public. Nabokov's darkly brilliant masterpiece is a suspenseful mystery, a story of academia and dubious scholarship, and a glorious literary riddle that will leave you begging for answers.