The Best Stories of Anton Chekhov

Tolstoy thought Chekhov the finest photographer of the Russian countryside. James T. Farrell called him simply the greatest and most influential practitioner of the short story form. And Vladimir Nabokov, never one to mince words, insisted that to prefer Dostoyevsky or Gorky to Chekhov was tantamount to being unable to grasp "the essentials of universal literary art."

Among the twelve stories included here are some of Chekhov's most famous and celebrated--"The Lady with the Dog," "The Darling," "Ward No. 6," and "Peasants"--as well as a few less familiar though equally accomplished masterpieces such as "Ariadne" and "Gooseberries." All of the stories in this round-up reveal Chekhov as a superb anatomist of the human heart and a master of concision and storytelling--and demonstrate why Chekhov's stories inspire so enthusiastic and devoted a following.

Contents:
Introduction
The Lady with the Dog
Gusev
An Upheaval
Neighbors
Ward No. 6
The Darling
The Husband
Ariadne
Peasants
The Man in a Case
Gooseberries
About Love