As this post hints at [and yes, here I am shamelessly shuttling you off to my commonplace book], Lolita is known as a dirty book. When I was in high school, not having read the book, I thought it akin to literary porn.
Of course, the old Vintage International Cover doesn't help:
[seen here as the cover of the audiobook]
So of course, I'm quite embarrassed when I take this out of my bag at coffee shops in Wheaton, Illinois, where it often seems like the majority of coffee shop patrons are there for Bible studies. I quickly break open the book, hiding the cover and the spine. I think that's easier than saying, "But no, no, no....do you know how beautifully Nabokov writes?"
