Being Lolita: A Memoir

Written by Alisson Wood

Narrated by Alisson Wood

This program is read by the author.

A dark romance evolves between a high schooler and her English teacher in this breathtakingly powerful memoir about a young woman who must learn to rewrite her own story.

“Have you ever read Lolita?”

So begins seventeen-year-old Alisson’s metamorphosis from student to lover and then victim. A lonely and vulnerable high school senior, Alisson finds solace only in her writing—and in a young, charismatic English teacher, Mr. North.

Mr. North gives Alisson a copy of Lolita to read, telling her it is a beautiful story about love. The book soon becomes the backdrop to a connection that blooms from a simple crush into a forbidden romance. But as Mr. North’s hold on her tightens, Alisson is forced to evaluate how much of their narrative is actually a disturbing fiction.

In the wake of what becomes a deeply abusive relationship, Alisson is faced again and again with the story of her past, from rereading Lolita in college to working with teenage girls to becoming a professor of creative writing. It is only with that distance and perspective that she understands the ultimate power language has had on her—and how to harness that power to tell her own true story.

Being Lolita is a stunning coming-of-age memoir that shines a bright light on our shifting perceptions of consent, vulnerability, and power. This is the story of what happens when a young woman realizes her entire narrative must be rewritten—and then takes back the pen to rewrite it.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

"Being Lolita is an unflinching depiction of grooming and a searing indictment of exploitative teachers, but most of all it’s an act of redemption—a powerful realization of Wood’s vow 'to do the little I can to make sure what happened to me doesn’t happen again.'"— Susan Choi, author of the National Book Award-winning Trust Exercise

"Wood reminds us that stories still have the power to change the world. This is a fascinating story of survival and purpose, yet it is also a story of interpretation. How we read the world changes how we live in it. A fantastic debut." — Garrard Conley, author of Boy Erased

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio
• Release date: Aug 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781250751942

Alisson Wood

Alisson Wood is a graduate of New York University where she now teaches creative writing to undergraduates. She also leads advanced Creative Non-Fiction workshops with Sackette Street Writers in Brooklyn. She is the founder and Editor-in Chief of the NYC literary reading series and online journal Pigeon Pages. Her writing has been published in The New York Times, Catapult and Epiphany. She won the inaugural Breakout 8 Writers Prize on behalf of Epiphany Magazine and the Author's Guild.

Reviews for Being Lolita

[Monica Linson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

WTAF? As a target of narcissistic grooming myself, I believe Being Lolita is a must read for every high school girl, so that she knows the red flags. I wish I’d known.

Alisson Wood is a beautiful example of personal growth and reflection, setting boundaries and bouncing back from the pain.

Well done!

[Mark Whittenburg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great insight at the very end about the book Lolita. I pity the author but know she is stronger for the experience even if she is still sometimes doubtful of it.

[a mariana · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A painful and beautiful work about a woman reclaiming her own story, teenagehood, growing up, and how passion can disguise abuse.
I can't recommend it enough.

[Tyler George · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a beautiful but terrifying book. It brought me to tears.

[Nadjezda Verboom · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Trigger warning:
Sexual abuse and depression.

This book was amazing. Last year I read My Dark Vanessa witch let me in to a Lolita rabbit hole. I started with an audiobook about a true crime story about a similar story like Lolita, then I read the original story by Nabokov and now I read this memoir.

I listen to this book in one sitting while I was working. The writing style really reminded me of My Dark Vanessa. The author wrote it from her perspective and tells the story piece by piece. This was a great way to tell her story. You get to know how her young self thought of what was happening between her teacher. In the second part she explains how she found out that what happened to here was incredibly bad and had nothing to do with wat she did. This part made this book so much more compelling. It was so interesting to see how her teacher manipulated her mind and how she still after a year thought that her relationship with her teacher was a normal one and that Lolita has a different meaning than her teacher told her.

At one point she tells the reader that the word Lolita is used wrong. We see a Lolita as an slut, or a young woman who manipulates men to get what she wants. This is wrong, because a Lolita is an abused girl by a man that had no right to touch her. This part hit right to my soul.

I recommend this book to every person who liked reading My Dark Vanessa or Lolita or is just interested in a true story about abuse.