The importance of Chekhov's stories is now recognized by readers as well as by fellow authors. Their themes - alienation, the absurdity and tragedy of human existence - have as much relevance today as when they were written, and this superb new translation captures their modernist spirit. Among the fourteen stories included are 'The Lady with the Little Dog', 'Gusev', and 'Rothschild's Violin'. Seventeen peerless examples of how much life you can put into a few pages of fiction if you have Chekhovs economical mind, his eyes and ears, his feel for comedy and his sense of humanity. Chekhov is better known for his plays. But these are small masterpieces of their own, in a revelatory new translation.