Synopses & Reviews
Typical targets of Zoshchenko's satire are the Soviet bureaucracy, crowded conditions in communal apartments, marital infidelities and the rapid turnover in marriage partners, and "the petty-bourgeois mode of life, with its adulterous episodes, lying, and similar nonsense." His devices are farcical complications, satiric understatement, humorous anachronisms, and an ironic contrast between high-flown sentiments and the down-to-earth reality of mercenary instincts.
Zoshchenko's sharp and original satire offers a marvelous window on Russian life in the 20s and 30s.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Short Novels
What the Nightingale Sang
The Lilacs Are Blooming
Michel Sinyagin
Short Stories
Nervous People
The Lady Aristocrat
The Bathhouse
Dog Scent
The Crisis
Poverty
Patients
Lyalka Fifty
Pelageya
Lucky
A Summer Breather
The Merry-Go-Round
The Watchman
The Czar's Boots
The Quality of Production
A Clever Little Trick
The Bottle
The Nursemaid
Don't Speculate
The Affidavit
Weak Packaging
The Story of a Man Who Was Purged from the Party
An Incident on the Volga
Baths and People
A Forge of Health
A Tragicomedy
An Amusing Adventure
A Water Ballet
Much Ado About Nothing
A True Incident
The Galosh
A Heart of Stone
More on the Anti-Noise Campaign
The Dictaphone
The History of an Illness
Big-City Lights
Clouds
The Pushkin Centennial
The Canvas Brief Case
The Funeral Feast
Rosa-Maria
A Jolly Game
A Final Unpleasantness
Bees and People
The Buoy
The Adventures of a Monkey
An Extraordinary Incident
Autobiography
Before Sunrise (excerpts)