Classic tales of changing lives and loves from one of Russia's greatest playwrights, a master of the modern short story. Morality, philosophy, and science merge in "The Duel," the classic tale of transformation in which educated Russian aristocrat Ivan Andreitch Laevsky falls in love with the married Nadya Fyodorovna and runs off to the Black Sea with her. As their passion wanes, Nadya turns to other men for comfort, while Ivan indulges in heavy...

Because of his frank and honest portrayal of human sexuality in the controversial works for which he is best known, e.g. "Lady Chatterley's Lover" and "Women in Love", D. H. Lawrence was not widely respected in his day. In fact at the time of his death, he was considered little more than a pornographer. However E. M. Forester challenged this portrayal calling Lawrence "The greatest imaginative novelist of our generation", and with his extended reflection...

A collection of short stories depicting middle class life in Dublin in the early 20th century. First published in 1914, the stories draw on themes relevant to the time such as nationalism and Ireland's national identity, and cement Joyce's reputation for brutally honest and revealing depictions of everyday Irish life. At the heart of each story is a character's moment of self-realization which serves to further heighten our understanding of life in...

"The millions of readers of Amor Towles are in for a treat as he shares some of his shorter fiction: six stories set in New York City and a novella in Los Angeles. The New York stories, most of which are set around the turn of the millennium, take up everything from the death-defying acrobatics of the male ego, to the fateful consequences of brief encounters, and the delicate mechanics of comprise which operate at the heart of modern marriages. In...

Britain's most popular nineteenth century playwright Oscar Wilde was born in Ireland in 1854. He dabbled in several different forms of writing, as is exemplified in his best known work, the novel entitled "The Picture of Dorian Gray." He also wrote in the form of short fiction stories, like "The Canterville Ghost." In this tale, a family of proud Americans come into possession of a historic English mansion. However, the mansion is haunted by murderous...

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a master of the short story. The son of a former serf in southern Russia, he attended Moscow University to study medicine, writing short stories for periodicals in order to support his family. What began as a necessity became a legitimate career in 1886 when he was asked to write in St. Petersburg for the Novoye Vremya (New Times), owned by millionaire magnate Alexey Suvorin. Chekhov began paying more attention to his...

Unique Elements • About the Author • About the Translator • A Literary Classic by ANTON CHEKHOV. The Chorus Girl and Other Stories by RUSSIAN author ANTON CHEKHOV is a collection of short stories first published in 1920 in the UNITED KINGDOM. The title story of this collection, "The Chorus Girl," tells the sad story of a woman spurned by her lover. Sneak Peak 'Kolpakov did not mind being found by the postman or Pasha's...

Winesburg, Ohio is a 1919 short story cycle by the American author Sherwood Anderson. The work is structured around the life of protagonist George Willard, from the time he was a child to his growing independence and ultimate abandonment of Winesburg as a young man. It is set in the fictional town of Winesburg, Ohio (not to be confused with the actual Winesburg), which is based loosely on the author's childhood memories of Clyde, Ohio. Mostly written...

FYODOR LUKITCH SYSOEV, the master of the factory school maintained at the expense of the firm of Kulikin, was getting ready for the annual dinner. Every year after the school examination the board of managers gave a dinner at which the inspector of elementary schools, all who had conducted the examinations, and all the managers and foremen of the factory were present. In spite of their official character, these dinners were always good and lively,...

O. Henry is the pen name of American writer William Sydney Porter (1862-1910). Porter's 400 short stories are known for their wit, wordplay, characterization and the clever use of twist endings. He travelled to Austin in 1884, where he took a number of different jobs over the next several years, first as pharmacist then as a draftsman, bank teller and journalist. He also began writing as a sideline to employment. Porter's most prolific writing period...