Catalog

Record Details

Catalog Search



Being Lolita : a memoir  Cover Image Book Book

Being Lolita : a memoir / Alisson Wood.

Wood, Alisson, (author.).

Summary:

"A dark romance evolves between a high schooler and her English teacher, in this breathtakingly powerful memoir about a young woman who must learn to rewrite her own story. "Have you ever read Lolita?" So begins seventeen-year-old Alisson's metamorphosis from student to lover and then victim. A lonely and vulnerable high school senior, Alisson finds solace only in her writing--and in a young, charismatic English teacher, Mr. North. He praises her as a special and gifted writer, and she blossoms under his support and his vision for her future. Mr. North gives Alisson a copy of Lolita to read, telling her it is a beautiful story about love. The book soon becomes the backdrop to a relationship that blooms from a simple crush into a forbidden romance, with Mr. North convincing her that theirs is a love affair rivaled only by Nabokov's masterpiece. But as time progresses and his hold on her tightens, Alisson is forced to evaluate how much of that narrative is actually a disturbing fiction. In the wake of what becomes a deeply abusive relationship, Alisson is faced again and again with the story of her past, from rereading Lolita in college, to working with teenage girls, to becoming a professor of creative writing. It is only with that distance and perspective that she understands the ultimate power language has had on her--and how to harness that power to tell her own true story. BEING LOLITA is a stunning coming-of-age memoir of obsession, passion, and manipulation, shining a bright light on our shifting perceptions of consent, vulnerability, and power. This is the story of what happens when a young woman realizes her entire narrative must be rewritten--and then takes back the pen to rewrite it"-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9781250217219 (hardcover)
  • Physical Description: 294 pages ; 22 cm
  • Edition: First edition.
  • Publisher: New York : Flatiron Books, 2020.
Subject: Wood, Alisson.
High school girls > Abuse of > United States.
Sexual harassment in education > United States.
Sexually abused teenagers > United States > Biography.
Teacher-student relationships > United States.
Genre: Biographies.
Autobiographies.


Additional Resources