This is the most extensive look at the life of Sergey Nabokov, the novelist's openly gay brother who, in spite of serving as the basis for numerous gay characters in Vladimir's fiction, was a lifelong embarrassment to his elder sibling. Paul Russell's meticulously researched novel explores these tense relations, which begin in childhood with the aristocratic Nabokov family being forced from Russia during the Revolution. Once an adult, the effete Sergey moves to Paris, where he comes into his own in the bohemian circles of Jean Cocteau, the wealthy American expatriates Sarah and Gerald Murphy, Gertrude Stein's salon, and Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. It's within the ballet world that Sergey meets the Austrian prince who becomes his lover. The couple lives a fairy-tale romance that ends tragically after Sergey denounces the Nazis and is arrested. While his brother soars to international literary fame, Sergey dies unceremoniously under the horrific conditions of a German prison camp. The Unreal Life of Sergey Vladimirovich Nabokov provides for the first time an important window onto a seldom-discussed chapter of the Nabokov family history. Paul Russell is the author of six novels, including Sea of Tranquility, The Coming Storm (winner of the Ferro-Grumley Award), and War Against the Animals. He is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, and he teaches literature and creative writing at Vassar College.