Atmospheric, compassionate, and uncannily wise, Chekhov's short fiction possesses the transcendent power of art to awe and change the reader. This monumental edition, expertly translated, is especially faithful to the meaning of Chekhov's prose and the unique rhythms of his writing, giving readers an authentic sense of his style--and, in doing so, a true understanding of his greatness.

Called the greatest of short story writers, Anton Chekhov changed the genre itself with his spare, impressionistic depictions of Russian life and the human condition. Now, thirty of his best tales from the major periods of his creative life are available in this outstanding onevolume edition. Included are Chekhov"s characteristically brief, evocative early pieces such as "The Huntsman" from 1885, which brilliantly conveys the complex texture of two lives during a meeting on a summer"s day. Four years later, Chekhov produced the tour de force "A Boring Story" (1889), the penetrating and caustic self-analysis of a dying professor of medicine. Dark irony, social commentary, and symbolism mark the stories that follow, particularly "Ward No. 6" (1892),where the tables turn on the director of a mental hospital and make him an inmate. Here, too, is one of Chekhov"s best-known stories,"The Lady with the Little Dog" (1899), a look at illicit love, as well as his own favorite among his stories, "The Student," a moving piece about the importance of religious tradition.

INTRODUCTION

TRANSLATORS" NOTE

THE DEATH OF A CLERK

SMALL FRY

THE HUNTSMAN

THE MALEFACTOR

PANIKHIDA

ANYUTA

EASTER NIGHT

VANKA

SLEEPY

A BORING STORY

GUSEV

PEASANT WOMEN

THE FIDGET

IN EXILE

WARD NO. 6

THE BLACK MONK

ROTHSCHILD"S FIDDLE

THE STUDENT

ANNA ON THE NECK

THE HOUSE WITH THE MEZZANINE

THE MAN IN A CASE

GOOSEBERRIES

A MEDICAL CASE

THE DARLING

ON OFFICIAL BUSINESS

THE LADY WITH THE LITTLE DOG

AT CHRISTMASTIME

IN THE RAVINE

THE BISHOP

THE FIANCEE

NOTES