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ment to Nabokov’s 1973 nonfiction
roundup, Strong Opinions. Spanning the
years 1921 to 1977 and drawn from
sources as diverse as the New Republic,
Sports Illustrated, and journals for
Europe’s Russian émigré community,
they show the author to have been
strongly opinionated on matters that run
the gamut from literary style, to his dis-
coveries as an amateur lepidopterist, to
the cultural impact of his controversial
novel Lolita. Nabokov is passionate in
his assessment of literary favorites such as
Pushkin, whose work he praises for “its
ample and powerful lyricism,” and
bluntly critical of most Soviet literature,
which he derides as propagandistic “vil-
lage dreadful fantasies.” His incisive wit
and intellectual honesty are also evident
in his responses to interviewers’ repeti-
tive questions about the scandal caused
by Lolita. Nabokov observed, “I write
what I like and some like what I write.”
His fans will find much to like here.
(Nov.)White Negroes: When Cornrows
Were in Vogue... and Other
Thoughts on Cultural Appropriation
Lauren Michele Jackson. Beacon, $25.95
(187p) ISBN 978-0-8070-1180-5
Northwestern University professor
Jackson’s insightful debut essay collection
takes on cultural appropriation—particu-
larly of black innovation by white celebri-
ties, artists, and entrepreneurs—through
the lens of power dynamics, identifying it
as a process by which “society’s imbal-
ances are exacerbated and inequalities
prolonged.” In the realm of pop culture,
Jackson analyzes the pursuit of “urban”
sexual wildness by Britney Spears and
Miley Cyrus, the aesthetic but not eco-
nomic investment of the Kardashians in
black fashion, and Paula Deen’s fetishistic
presentation of Southern food alongside
explicit racism. Her exploration of the art
world juxtaposes the public reaction to
Rachel Dolezal, made famous by her
“impulse to inhabit blackness,” with
accusations against institutions such as
the Whitney Biennial, which she assertsignores black artists but treats depictions
of antiblack violence as edgy and relevant.
She identifies toxic white resentment of
black success in the recent viral videos of
white people calling the police on black
people (often children) for using public
pools, having lemonade stands, or barbe-
cuing in parks. Jackson is uncompromising
in her bold language and palpable in her
outrage; she keeps her razor-sharp analysis
in an accessible but academic register. She
both calls out the damage done by appro-
priative and oppressive behavior and calls
in white readers to take part in valuing
black contributions in a way that helps
black lives. (Nov.)The Evening Star:
The Rise and Fall of a Great
Washington Newspaper
Faye Haskins. Rowman & Littlefield, $38
(324p) ISBN 978-0-7425-4872-5
Librarian Haskins (Behind the Headlines)
chronicles Washington D.C.’s Evening Star
newspaper in this intelligent though dense
history. Chapters focus on themes andchihuly.com/shopDale Chihuly’s impact in merging the worlds of art
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