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As American as Apple-Beet Pie...
Jessa asks "Is Nabokov usually classified as an American writer?"
In my opinion, yes. Though he was of Russian origin, the depth and enthusiasm of his adoption of American language, culture, and milieu for the novels written after his emigration qualify him as an American writer. He's certainly one of the most linguistically accomplished writers in English to ever reside on these shores.
One can't discount his Russian extraction completely, nor his work in his first native tongue, but it's significant that once he arrived here, he essentially considered English his new native tongue.
So my position is that while he was here, he was an American author, and a very good one at that.
Or, to answer the question rhetorically, was Joseph Brodsky an American poet?
The permalink to Jessa's article is behaving badly, so just go to the main page and find the July 15, 2002 entries from there. This is the second time this week I've had this problem on a Blogger site. What's up with Blogger permalinks?