From the Inside Flap
Anton Chekhov’s short novels are here brought together in one volume for the first time, in a masterly new translation by the award-winning translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky.

Chekhov, widely hailed as the supreme master of the short story, also wrote five works long enough to be called short novels. The Steppe–the most lyrical of the five–is an account of a nine-year-old boy’s frightening journey by wagon train across the steppe of southern Russia to enroll in a distant school. The Duel sets two decadent figures–a fanatical rationalist and a man of literary sensibility–on a collision course that ends in a series of surprising reversals. In The Story of an Unknown Man, a political radical plans to spy on an important official by serving as valet to his son, however, as he gradually becomes involved as a silent witness in the intimate life of his young employer, he finds that his own terminal illness has changed his long-held priorities in startling ways. Three Years recounts a complex series of ironies in the personal life of a rich but passive Moscow merchant, engaging time as a narrative element in a way unusual in Chekhov’s fiction. In My Life, a man renounces wealth and social position for a life of manual labor, and the resulting conflict between the moral simplicity of his ideals and the complex realities of human nauture culminates in an apocalyptic vision that is unique in Chekhov’s work.

In these five short novels, Chekhov’s masterful storytelling and his profound understanding of human nature are brilliantly evinced.

About the Author
Anton Chekhov was the author of hundreds of short stories and several plays and is regarded by many as both the greatest Russian storyteller and the father of modern drama.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Anton Chekhov, widely hailed as the supreme master of the short story, also wrote five works long enough to be called short novels, here brought together in one volume for the first time, in a new translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky." The Steppe - the most lyrical of the five - is an account of a nine-year-old boy's frightening journey by wagon train across the steppe of southern Russia. The Duel, set two decadent figures - a fanatical rationalist and a man of literary sensibility - on a collision course that ends on a series of surprising reversals. In The Story of an Unknown Man, a political radical spying on an important official by serving as valet to his son gradually discovers that his own terminal illness had changed his long-held priorities in startling ways. Three Years recounts a complex series of ironies in the personal life of a rich but passive Moscow merchant. In My Life, a man renounces wealth and social postion for a life of manual labor. The resulting conflict between the moral simplicity of his ideals and the complex realities of human nature culminates in a brief apocalyptic vision that is unique in Chekhov's work.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal