Anton Chekhov

Stories by a 19th century Russian master, written for newspapers and magazines when he was an unknown. In one, a man discovers he does not have the money to pay for the goods he bought, another is on an arranged engagement.

In 1890, the thirty-year-old Chekhov, already knowing that he was ill with tuberculosis, undertook an arduous eleven-week journey from Moscow across Siberia to the penal colony on the island of Sakhalin. Now collected here in one volume are the fully annotated translations of his impressions of his trip through Siberia, and the account of his three-month sojourn on Sakhalin Island, together with author's notes, extracts from Chekhov's letters to relatives...

"Without doubt one of the greatest observers of human nature in all its messy complexity, Chekhov's short stories are exquisite masterpieces in miniature. His work ranged from the light-hearted comic tales of his early years to some of the most achingly profound stories ever composed, and this variety of tone and temper is collected in this essential new collection. Chekhov wrote stories throughout his writing career, and this selection has been chosen...

In this, his third adaptation of a Chekhov play, Pulitzer Prize- winning author David Mamet offers a contemporary, highly accessible version of Chekhov' s The Three Sisters. Working from a literal translation by Vlada Chernomordik, Mamet has rediscovered the characteristically modern chords in this powerful play and breathes new life into a timeless classic. This is Chekhov rendered in direct, colloquial language marked by Mamet' s finely tuned ear...