There will be a lot of talk this weekend about the first moon landing, and none of it, I'm guessing, will include Vladimir Nabokov.
The Russian novelist was one of a number of writers that Life magazine contacted, before the launch of Apollo 11, and asked for suggestions on what the first man on the moon should say.
Nabokov, with his impeccable grasp of American idioms (and tendencies), replied: "I want a lump in his throat to obstruct the wisecrack."
