The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol: Introduction by Richard Pevear [Hardcover]

Collected here are Gogol’s finest tales—stories that combine the wide-eyed, credulous imagination of the peasant with the sardonic social criticism of the city dweller—allowing readers to experience anew the unmistakable genius of a writer who paved the way for Dostoevsky and Kafka. All of Gogol’s most memorable creations are here: the minor official who misplaces his nose, the downtrodden clerk whose life is changed by the acquisition of a splendid new overcoat, the wily madman who becomes convinced that a dog can tell him everything he needs to know. The wholly unique blend of the mundane and the supernatural that Gogol crafted established his reputation as one of the most daring and inventive writers of his time.

From the acclaimed translators ofWar and Peace,Crime and Punishment, andThe Brothers Karamazov,a brilliant translation of Nikolai Gogol’s short fiction.

Introduction
Select Bibliography
Chronology
Translators’ Note

UKRANIAN TALES
St. John’s Eve
The Night Before Christmas
The Terrible Vengeance
Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka and His Aunt
Old World Landowners
Viy
The Story of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich

PETERSBURG TALES
Nevsky Prospect
The Diary of a Madman
The Nose
The Carriage
The Portrait
The Overcoat

Notes“The present translators have contrived to reveal [Gogol’s qualities] to the non-Russian reader at last, and virtually for the first time.”—John Bayley,The New York Review of Books

“A superb translation.”—The New YorkerNikolai Gogolwas born in 1809. The author of such classic works asDead Souls,The Government Inspector, andTaras Bulba, he died in 1852.

Together,Richard PevearandLarissa Volokhonskyhave translated works by Tolstoy, Dostoevskyl³