Diary of a Madman, The Government Inspector, & Selected Stories

Apr 28, 2025 8:43 PM

Author:Nikolay Gogol,Robert Maguire,Ronald Wilks

Author, dramatist and satirist, Nikolay Gogol (1809-1852) deeply influenced later Russian literature with his powerful depictions of a society dominated by petty beaurocracy and base corruption. This volume includes both his most admired short fiction and his most famous drama. A biting and frequently hilarious political satire, The Government Inspector has been popular since its first performance and was regarded by Nabokov as the greatest Russian play every written. The stories gathered here, meanwhile, range from comic to tragic and describe the isolated lives of low-ranking clerks, lunatics and swindlers. They include Diary of a Madman, an amusing but disturbing exploration of insanity; Nevsky Prospect, a depiction of an artist besotted with a prostitute; and The Overcoat, a moving consideration of poverty that powerfully influenced Dostoevsky and later Russian literature.

Reviews

Beautifully written and very funny. . . as with Salinger and Carver, there is crystalline simplicity to Bank's prose

—— Guardian

I read the first chapter and thought, 'Wait, I know this girl' . . . I realized she was my friend . . . she made me laugh, she made me weep, and when I closed the book at the end of the day, I knew I'd never forget her

—— Ruth Ozeki

Charming and funny

—— New York Times

A smart, ruefully funny chronicle of a modern young woman's search for love . . . a model of well-crafted narrative building to a thoughtful, hopeful conclusion. Bank has created a delightful heroine who deserves her happy ending-even though any reader who has really been paying attention to the sharp, unsentimental details knows that all happy endings are provisional

—— Kirkus

One marvels at Bank's assured control of her material, her witty, distinctive voice and her ability to find comedy, pathos and drama in ordinary lives . . . phenomenally good

—— Publishers Weekly

This chronicle of a New Yorker's relationships has a wit and perceptiveness that singles it out from the crowd

—— Guardian

As hilarious as Girls' Guide is, there's a wise, serious core here

—— Wall Street Journal

A sexy, pour-your-heart-out, champagne tingle of a read-thoughtful, wise, and tell-all honest. Bank's is a voice that you'll remember

—— Cosmopolitan

Bank writes like John Cheever, but funnier

—— Los Angeles Times

Previous Article：Guys and Dolls Next Article：Rumpole and the Primrose Path

Comments

Welcome to zzdbook comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.