It is indeed a tricky name. It is often misspelt, because the eye tends to regard the 'a' of the first syllable as a misprint and the tries to restore the symmetrical sequence by by triplicating the 'o' -- filling up the row of circles, so to speak, as in a game of crosses and naughts. No-bow-cough. How ugly, how wrong. Every author whose name is fairly often mentioned in periodicals develops a bird-watcher's or caterpillar-picker's knack when scanning an article. But in my case I always get caught by the word 'nobody' when capitalized at the beginning of a sentence. As to pronunciation, Frenchmen of course say Nabokoff, with the accent on the last syllable. Englishmen say Nabokov, accent on the first, and Italians say Nabokov, accent in the middle as Russians also do. Na-bo-kov. A heavy open 'o' as in 'Knickerbocker'. My New England ear is not offended by the long elegant middle 'o' of Nabokov as delivered in American academies. The awful 'Na-bah-kov' is a despicable gutterism. Well, you can make your choice now.
This is not Nabokov, but rather a fan of his work. He's dead. I know...it stinks...
