Not Your Ordinary Literary Event

By Anonymous in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 15, 2005 4:00PM

We couldn’t help but raise our eyebrows when we heard about the event tonight at Darkroom (2210 W. Chicago) celebrating the 50th anniversary printing of Vladmir Nabokov’s Lolita, but we suspect that’s just what the organizers were going for when they thought up “Coming of Age: Lolita at 50.” SAIC professor and novelist Carol Anshaw and free speech advocate Burton Joseph will be on hand to discuss Nabokov’s controversial novel and a cool Goose Island brew will set you back a lean 3 bucks. What’s turning around in our brains, though, is the costume contest: show up in your most creative interpretation of Lolita (with “extra points for avoiding the schoolgirl cliché”) and compete for—what, we’re not sure. Hopefully not a creepy old man’s attentions.

There will also be music: a tribute “Ch-ch-ch-cherry Bomb” set by DJ Tobias and Brock and a performance by My Where They.

Doors open at 7:30; get there before 10 to avoid paying a $3 cover. And make sure your costume includes room to stash a book—Barbara’s will be selling Vintage’s 50th anniversary edition of Lolita.