Pale FireOne of the greatest books I've ever read. Its heart is strange, but it is huge; let yours beat in response MARY GAITSKILL Pale Fire, a 999 line poem, is the final work of the celebratedand recently murderedAmerican author, John Francis Shade. Here that poem is transcribed, introduced, and annotated (at length) by Shade's fellow scholar, neighbour, and apparent friend, Charles Kinbote. Approaching this task with gusto, Kinbote's annotations reveal