Dieter E. Zimmer, the doyen of German Nabokovians, has collected a number of essays and recollections about Nabokov's most famous work. Most of the essays have been published, in some form or other, on his website, in newspapers and magazines. Thus, true fans will not find much new information. The book is still valuable as it collects these essays in one place and is supported by 48 pages of color illustrations and photographs.

The first chapter narrates the publication and reception of Lolita. The second discusses love and sex (Lolita is no Lolita in the modern definition), the third examines Humbert's pedophilia and the public reaction to this topic, the fourth highlights the fortunate and unfortunate cover choices for the book (illustrated in the book and on his website), the fifth presents the real Dolly Haze, the sixth argues about the claimed relation between Lolita and Lilith. The seventh chapter offers a curiosity of picture taking apes and Nabokov's recollection thereof (the weakest chapter in my opinion). The eigth and ninth chapters remove two doubtful influences on Nabokov from consideration (Victor, Lichberg), while the tenth presents an actual US case of a girl's two year trip with a man which happened just after Nabokov had written the manuscript. The eleventh chapter deals with Humbert's own view of his pedophilia.

The twelfth chapter reveals Zimmer's detective skills in identifying locations from Nabokov's clues. This is the most original part of the book. The thirteenth chapter is an account of the German translation (first attempt botched, then revised in a team and printed despite the reservations of Vera Nabokov (bothered about the mistakes but unwilling to read the complete translation), later corrected and improved by Zimmer himself). The final chapter concludes that even Nabokov makes mistakes: Some dates are not internally consistent, apart from the fact that Humbert could hardly have written down such a long manuscript in fifty days. Zimmer argues that a substantial portion had already been noted by Humbert before his arrest. The book concludes with a chronology of the novel and its protagonists. ( )