"The Keys to 'Lolita'" (1968) is the first detailed study of Vladimir Nabokov’s most famous novel. Its author, a young American Slavist, Carl Proffer, founded the publishing house “Ardis” together with his wife, Ellenedea, three years after the book’s release. He opened a path to Russian writers who were not being published in the Soviet Union for readers. Proffer does not claim to offer a comprehensive academic analysis of “Lolita”; he writes easily and even playfully, emphasizing that he is only presenting his observations about the style and techniques of “Lolita,” as well as “keys to some… puzzles” of the novel. And yet it was precisely his work, highly praised by Nabokov himself, that marked the beginning of a deep study of the famous writer’s oeuvre. The translators of the “Keys” brilliantly handled the difficult task: not only preserving the spirit and style of the study, but also finding exact equivalents in the author’s Russian version for the many comparisons it is built upon. A unique experience of studying one of the best novels of the twentieth century infects you with the excitement of a pioneer and makes you want to read it again right away.