{"product_id":"the-diary-of-a-madman-and-other-stories-9780451418562","title":"The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories","description":"Some call him a Russian Mark Twain. And with his special blend of comedy, social commentary, and fantasy, Nikolai Gogol paved the way for his countrymen Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. This sampling of Gogol's works includes the increasingly fantastic entries of \"The Diary of a Madman,\" followed by the wonderfully surrealistic \"The Nose,\" in which the title character embarks on some unlikely activities when separated from its owner's face. In \"The Carriage,\" a pompous landowner gets his comeuppance when he attempts to impress a general. Rounding out the collection are the woefully comic tale of a clerk's acquisition of \"The Overcoat\" and the celebrated novella \"Taras Bulba\" about the Ukrainian mythic hero said to have led a bloody Cossack revolt against the Poles.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTranslated by Priscilla Meyer and Andrew R. McAndrew\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith a New Introduction\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand an Afterword by Priscilla Meyer\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe son of a small landowner, \u003cb\u003eNikolai Gogol\u003c\/b\u003e (1809-52) was educated at the Niezhin gymnasium, where he started a magazine and acted in student theatricals. In 1828, he went to St. Petersburg, obtained a government clerkship, and devoted himself to writing. In 1831-32, he published two volumes of \u003ci\u003eEvenings on a Farm Near Dikanka\u003c\/i\u003e, a collection of stories based on Ukrainian folklore that was enthusiastically received. He next planned to write a history of Russia in the Middle Ages. The work never materialized, but the planning of it served to win him a chair of history at the University of St. Petersburg. Meanwhile, he published \"Taras Bulba\" and a number of short stories, including \"The Overcoat.\" On April 19, 1836, his famous comedy \u003ci\u003eThe Inspector General\u003c\/i\u003e was produced. The play stirred up controversy and critics hailed its author as the head of the Naturalist school. Gogol spent the next twelve years abroad, living mainly in Rome. During his voluntary exile, he completed \u003ci\u003eDead Souls\u003c\/i\u003e, a panorama of Russian life. Published in 1842, the book was an immediate success. The next ten years Gogol spent writing and rewriting a sequel that was never to see publication.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAndrew R. MacAndrew\u003c\/b\u003e is the translator of numerous books, including \u003ci\u003eNotes from Underground\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Brothers Karamazov \u003c\/i\u003eby Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Gogol's \u003ci\u003eThe Inspector General\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eSelected Letters of Fyodor Dostoyevsky\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePriscilla Meyer\u003c\/b\u003e is Professor of Russian Language and Literature at Wesleyan University, She published the first monograph on Vladimir Nabokov's\u003ci\u003e Pale Fire\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e Find What the Sailor Has Hidden\u003c\/i\u003e, and edited Andrei Bitov's collected stories, \u003ci\u003e Life in Windy Weather\u003c\/i\u003e. She is coeditor of collections on Gogol, Dostoevsky, and Nabokov. Her most recent book is\u003ci\u003e How the Russians Read the French: Lermontov, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Signet Book","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50626778726674,"sku":"9780451418562","price":4.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_8cd9786e-3f71-49be-95fb-9aa5efcddb09.jpg?v=1732669048","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-diary-of-a-madman-and-other-stories-9780451418562","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}