Saturday, March 10, 2012

Kathryn Harrison's 6 favorite books with parentless protagonists

Kathryn Harrison's latest novel is Enchantments.

One of her six favorite books with parentless protagonists, as told to The Week magazine:
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

An unreliable narrator confesses his erotic fixation on a fatherless girl whom he spirits away, at the death of her mother, on a tragicomic road trip across America. Flamboyant in style, sharp in wit, cruel, comic, and morally ambiguous, this is no cautionary tale but a suspenseful examination of the complexity of human personality and the power of forbidden desire.
Read about another entry on the list.

Lolita appears on Emily Temple's list of ten of the greatest kisses in literature, John Mullan's list of ten of the best lakes in literature, Dan Vyleta's top ten list of books in second languages, Rowan Somerville's top ten list of books of good sex in fiction, Henry Sutton's top ten list of unreliable narrators, Adam Leith Gollner's top ten list of fruit scenes in literature, Laura Hird's literary top ten list, Monica Ali's ten favorite books list, Laura Lippman's 5 most important books list, Mohsin Hamid's 10 favorite books list, and Dani Shapiro's 10 favorite books list.

--Marshal Zeringue