{"product_id":"dead-souls-introduction-by-richard-pevear-9781400043194","title":"Dead Souls: Introduction by Richard Pevear","description":"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNikolai Vasilevich Gogol\u003c\/i\u003e was born in 1809; his family were small gentry of Ukrainian cossack extraction, and his father was the author of a number of plays based on Ukrainian popular tales. He attended school in Nézhin and gained a reputation for his theatrical abilities. He went to St Petersburg in 1829 and with the help of a friend gained a post in one of the government ministries. Gogol was introduced to Zhukovsky, the romantic poet, and to Pushkin, and with the publication of \u003ci\u003eEvenings on a Farm near Dikanka \u003c\/i\u003e(1831) he had an entrée to all the leading literary salons. He even managed for a short period to be Professor of History at the University of St. Petersburg (1834-5). \u003ci\u003eDiary of a Madman\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Story of the Quarrel between Ivan Ivanovich and Ivan Nikiforovich\u003c\/i\u003e appeared in 1934, \u003ci\u003eThe Nose\u003c\/i\u003e in 1836, and \u003ci\u003eThe Overcoat \u003c\/i\u003ein 1842. Gogol also wrote the play \u003ci\u003eThe Inspector\u003c\/i\u003e (1836), \u003ci\u003eDead Souls\u003c\/i\u003e (1842), and several moralizing essays defending the Tsarist regime, to the horror of his liberal and radical friends. He lived a great deal abroad, mostly in Rome, and in his last years became increasingly prey to religious mania and despair. He made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1848, but was bitterly disappointed in the lack of feeling that the journey kindled. He returned to Russia and fell under the influence of a spiritual director who told him to destroy his writings as they were sinful. He burned the second part of \u003ci\u003eDead Souls\u003c\/i\u003e, and died in 1852 after subjecting himself to a severe regime of fasting.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Everyman's Library","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51661031997714,"sku":"9781400043194","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_6beb8c33-53e5-4493-8997-f6bb62dedaa2.jpg?v=1760434095","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/dead-souls-introduction-by-richard-pevear-9781400043194","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}