This character belatedly realizes that his barber’s son is 30 years dead in a passage examined in a chapter of Richard Rorty’s Contingency, Irony, Solidarity, titled “The Barber of Kasbeam.” A Billy Collins collection takes its title from this character’s parenthetical description of his “very photogenic” mother’s death: “picnic, lightning.” This character parodies “Ash Wednesday” by repeating “because you took advantage…” as he confronts a (*) porno director nicknamed “Cue” who drives a red Aztec convertible. This character describes “the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate” as his nickname for a girl whom he enrolls in school in Beardsley. Annabel Leigh inspires this character’s love for the “nymphet” Dolores Haze. For 10 points, name this protagonist of Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. ■END■
ANSWER: Humbert Humbert
<HG, American Literature>
= Average correct buzz position