Author:Nikolay Gogol,Ronald Wilks
'Strangely enough, I mistook it for a gentleman at first. Fortunately I had my spectacles with me so I could see it was really a nose.'
With this pair of absurd, comic stories Gogol indulges his imagination and delights readers.
Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions.
Nikolay Gogol (1809-1852). Gogol's works available in Penguin Classics are Dead Souls, Diary of a Madman, The Government Inspector & Selected Stories and The Night Before Christmas.
Her books have both wit and a whimsical charm
—— Sunday TelegraphGavalda sees through ordinary appearances to people's hidden longings... A gifted literary stylist
—— VogueA distant descendant of Dorothy Parker
—— VoiciA collection as tender as it is scathing
—— Le MondeThere's more than a whiff of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness about these tales, by turns savage, funny, unsettling
—— The TimesSkilful and unsettling
—— IndependentMr Bones is a series of characteristically dark and sharply focused snapshots from the world that Paul Theroux has observed - and invented
—— New York TimesSuave and accomplished
—— Washington TimesMr Bones showcases the author's virtuoso storytelling abilities, as he tells stories of tricky situations, slippery personalities and unsettling motives
—— Seattle TimesMisfits and twisted individuals loom large throughout these urbane stories . . . satirically edged.
—— The CulturePaul Theroux combines the traveller's hawk eye with the novelist's keen insight. . .[he has] an uncanny ability to rivet the reader.
—— New StatesmanA masterpiece of wit and elegance.
—— Elspeth Barker , Literary ReviewThe author charts the various stages of life with engaging curiosity and earthy compassion... The publishers, Jonathan Cape, have done a fine job with this handsome and substantial collection.
—— Keith Hopper , Times Literary SupplementAll the customary satisfactions of Burnside's writing – anomie, menace, flashes of violence and cruelty, hallucination and snow – but multiplied.
—— Sunday TelegraphEven Burnside’s most routine stories have beauty and intelligence. He is never less than something like brilliant.
—— Daily TelegraphA tremendous collection from a writer working at the full tilt of his gifts.
—— Kevin Barry , Ormskirk Advertiser