Barrie Karp writes:

http://soundcheck.wnyc.org/story/francine-prose/

I believe you have to listen to the audio portion to hear what she says about Humbert Humbert, and the "sleaze" (or other such word) of the lyrics, reminding her of HH, and they play just enough of Chevalier's version to include, I noticed, the line "Those little eyes so helpless and appealing" -- which line, according to an Internet search, is not in the (vanilla) Perry Como version - ah, the 50s in the US, what combinations. Were/are little girls' eyes helpless? whose eyes?

Barrie Karp

Soundcheck

Francine Prose On Edith Piaf, Beethoven And A Cross-Dressing French Athlete-Turned-Spy

Friday, May 02, 2014

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Author Francine Prose's new novel is called Lovers At The Chameleon Club, Paris 1932 – and it's a jam-packed tale about good and evil, love gone bad, racecars, Hitler, Picasso, photography, bad cops, crazy escapes and one very troubled woman. Incredibly, the book is based on a true story -- which Prose learned about after seeing a Henry Brassai photograph called "Lesbian Couple at Le Monocle."

The photo pictures a woman named Violette Morris -- a real-life French athlete and racecar driver who eventually became a Nazi spy. Her story loosely inspired Prose's main character in the novel, Lou Villars -- and Prose's Pick Three playlist, which she shared with us on Soundcheck.

Susan Elizabeth Sweeney
Co-Editor, NABOKV-L