Reading Lolita in Tehran (2003)

Nafisi’s account brings the work of Austen, Fitzgerald, James and Nabokov into conversation with her students’ lives in Iran. The interpretations give a reason to seek the novels themselves, rather than treating their reputations as sufficient. Prior reading enriches the discussion but is not a ticket of admission; expect plot discussion. This is a situated memoir about reading under repression, with political violence and painful personal experience.