This is a great story! By the way, I do not think the author of the article (Epstein) got away with anything. I am pretty sure Nabokov knew very well that he ha

This is a great story! By the way, I do not think the author of the article (Epstein) got away with anything. I am pretty sure Nabokov knew very well that he had not read the book. It is not a coincidence that Nabokov gave him a job reviewing movies afterwards. I think Nabokov read his essay, knew he was describing the movie, but nevertheless liked his writing and thought that Epstein was especially good at describing movies. So Nabokov either thought that he would use Epstein for his own amusement or (more likely) he would try to secretly develop Epstein's talent without telling him that he likes his writing as too much self confidence can be disastrous for a young writer. It seems that Epstein was luckier than he imagined. Although, it also seems that Nabokov gave up on him eventually.