A new book by Richard C. Borden points out some
interesting connections between Nabokov's SPEAK MEMORY and Valentin Kataev's
memoir MY DIAMOND CROWN (1977, which mentions VN several times), pp.
114-116.
Those interested in the post-Stalin rebirth of
Russian modernism will find much of interest in:
"THE ART OF WRITING BADLY: Valentin Kataev's
Mauvism & the Rebirth of Russian Modernism" (Northwestern UP: Evanston,
1999). In addition to Kataev Borden examines Aksyonov, Limonov, Erofeev, Bitov,
and Sasha Sokolov.