
Lolita
American novelist, 1899–1977.
Lolita is a 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov. It was shortlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction in 1959.
On 11 of the 17 lists it was eligible for.
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At a glance
- Author
- Vladimir Nabokov
- First published
- 1955
- Length
- 336 pages (UK paperback)
- Awards
- National Book Award for Fiction shortlist, 1959
- Genre
- Literary fiction, Psychological, Postmodern
Is Lolita worth reading?
11 of the 17 best-of lists it could have made include it, among them 100 Best Novels (board's list) (Modern Library) and 100 books of the century (Le Monde).
| List | Place | Original |
|---|---|---|
| 100 Best Novels (board's list) (Modern Library, 1998) | No. 4 | See the list |
| 100 books of the century (Le Monde, 1999) | No. 27 | See the list |
| 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime (Amazon.co.uk, 2014) | Listed | See the list |
| 100 novels everyone should read (The Telegraph, 2009) | No. 54 | See the list |
| All-Time 100 Novels (Time, 2005) | Listed | See the list |
| Bokklubben World Library (Norwegian Book Clubs, 2002) | Listed | See the list |
| National Book Award for Fiction (winners and finalists) (National Book Foundation, 1959) | Shortlist | See the list |
| Readers' top 100 novels (The Guardian, 2026) | No. 46 | See the list |
| The 100 best novels of all time (The Guardian, 2026) | No. 25 | See the list |
| The 100 best novels written in English (The Guardian / Observer, 2015) | Listed | See the list |
| The 100 greatest novels of all time (The Observer, 2003) | Listed | See the list |
Best edition of Lolita
The edition we link to is the Penguin Classics paperback (2000), 336 pages.
- Publisher
- Penguin Classics (paperback, 2000)
- Pages
- 336
- ISBN
- 9780141182537
How critics, prizes and readers rate Lolita
Critics rate it most highly: it earned 80% of the points available on critics' lists, against 34% on readers' and booksellers' lists and 33% on prize lists.
Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work
Books like Lolita
If you liked Lolita, try Pale Fire, Ulysses or Atonement.



