Russian American author Vladimir Nabokov wrote novels, short stories, poems, translations, and literary criticism. His novels firmly established him as one of the best stylists of the twentieth century. In 1955 the overwhelming success of Nabokov's novel Lolita enabled him to enjoy financial independence and to focus on his writing career until his death. Nabokov's lesser-known short stories, written from the early 1920s to the mid 1950s, display the same stylistic splendor and technical inventiveness as do his novels.

Chronologically, Nabokov's stories can be divided into four approximate periods: early period (1921-1928), middle period (1930-1935), high period (1936-1939), and American period (1940-1959). Nabokov's shorter fiction illuminates the evolution of his development as a prose writer, displaying his persistent search for the poetry and meaning of life. In a September 1971 interview with Stephen Jan Parker (published in 1991), Nabokov pointed out the importance of the short stories to his literary output...