STRONG OPINIONS <i> by Vladimir Nabokov (Vintage: $9.95) </i>

It’s hardly surprising that this collection of interviews, critical essays and letters to the editor lives up to its title: Vladimir Nabokov was never one to suffer fools, gladly or otherwise. With characteristic imperiousness, he insisted that interviewers submit their questions in writing and print his written replies verbatim. As a result, he appears both wittier and more articulate than anyone could be in a real conversation. In addition to discussing his three favorite subjects--literature, butterflies and chess--Nabokov dismisses much of the modern world, including trucks, music, totalitarianism and Soviet novelists. Like Jupiter hurling thunderbolts at impious mortals, he excoriates Edmund Wilson and everyone else who dared to criticize his translation of Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin.” An idiosyncratic portrait of a great writer and self-assured genius.