Imogene tries to explain: “It’s a work of literature, a ‘classic’—don’t you think? Notable for Nabokov’s style. The story is titillating but the prose is actually somewhat dense, for most readers, especially teenagers. It’s the wit that makes it palatable.” Francis Fox is frowning, scowling. Imogene is astonished that he seems personally affronted. “Humbert Humbert is a pervert, and the novel is indefensible. A man of, is it forty, forcing sex on a girl of eleven, disgusting! Also, anatomically impossible.”
