Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

The novel is presented as a poem titled "Pale Fire" with commentary by a friend of the poet's. Together these elements form two story lines in which both authors are central characters. The interaction between Kinbote and Shade takes place in the fictitious small college town of New Wye, Appalachia, where they live across a lane from each other, from February to July, 1959. Kinbote writes his commentary from then to October, 1959, in a tourist cabin in the equally fictitious western town of Cedarn, Utana. Both authors recount many earlier events, Shade mostly in New Wye and Kinbote mostly in Europe, especially the "distant northern land" of Zembla.

The 65th greatest fiction book of all time


This book is on the following lists:

  1. - 1st on 20th Century's Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction (Larry McCaffery)
  2. - 7th on The Ideal Library (Book)
  3. - 13th on El Pais Favorite Books of 100 Spanish Authors (El Pais)
  4. - 13th on 100 Best Books (Montana State University)
  5. - 14th on In Which These Are the 100 Greatest Novels (ThisRecording.com)
  6. - 21st on 100 Best Novels in English Since 1900 (Counterpunch)
  7. - 34th on The Top 10: The Greatest Books of All Time (The Top 10 (Book))
  8. - 35th on The 100 Greatest Novels (greatbooksguide.com)
  9. - 53rd on The Modern Library | 100 Best Novels (Modern Library)
  10. - 64th on Harvard Book Store Staff's Favorite 100 Books (Harvard Book Store)
  11. - 95th on The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time (The Novel 100)
  12. - 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (The Book)
  13. - The New Lifetime Reading Plan (The New Lifetime Reading Plan)
  14. - "Our Readable Century", The Best Books of the 20th Century (January Magazine)
  15. - TIME Magazine All Time 100 Novels (TIME Magazine)

Buy This Book

Name Binding Sales Rank Lowest New Lowest Used Published
Pale Fire Paperback 668861 $61.46 $2.87
Pale Fire Audio CD 2324556 $21.12 $5.80 2010
Pale Fire Mass Market Paperback 3424582 $3.50
Pale Fire Mass Market Paperback 3654171 $97.40 $3.77 1977
Pale Fire (Twentieth Century Classics) Paperback 569950 $14.82 1991
Pale Fire Audio CD 694755 $13.49 2013
Pale Fire Mass Market Paperback 1109886 $10.49 $3.53 1982
Pale Fire Paperback 1554711 $4.88 $2.99 1993
Pale Fire (Vintage International) Kindle Edition 13687 $11.99 2011
Pale Fire (Penguin Modern Classics) by Nabokov, Vladimir Re-issue edition (2000) Paperback 1414254 $27.03 $26.63
Pale Fire (Everyman's Library Contemporary Classics Series) Hardcover 704092 $44.92 $35.26 1992
Pale Fire Paperback 2471267 $28.99 $21.99 1980
Pálido fuego (COMPACTOS) (Spanish Edition) Paperback 2543629 $12.86 2006
Pálido fuego (Compactos nº 56) (Spanish Edition) Kindle Edition 2154642 $10.99 2006
Pale Fire Publisher: Vintage Paperback 1154001 $11.86 $9.12
Pale Fire Audio CD 10971088 $45.81 $10.00 2010
Pale Fire Paperback 16245 $10.69 $2.54 1989
Pale Fire Mass Market Paperback 3823269 $19.99 $3.10 1985
Pale Fire (Everyman's Library Contemporary Classics Series) Hardcover 550375 $17.49 $10.37 1992
Pale Fire Hardcover 2727066 $35.00 $13.55 1992
Pale Fire Paperback 1090003 $12.48 $11.49 2010
Pale Fire (Everyman's Library Classics & Contemporary Classics) 1st (first) Everyman's Edition by Nabokov, Vladimir (1992) Hardcover 7681260 $18.26 $14.35 1992
Pale Fire: A Poem in Four Cantos by John Shade Hardcover 1018700 $90.00 $35.00 2011