A Very Russian Christmas

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"Crimson ribbons and troubled souls, landowners yearning for love, peasants bent from labor, priests who raise a glass, and the salty joys of salmon and caviar. This is Russian Christmas celebrated in supreme pleasure and pain by the greatest of writers, running the gamut from sweet and reverent to twisted and uproarious, with many of the stories appearing in English for the first time. Dostoevsky brings stories of poverty and tragedy, Chekhov's insights into out melancholy woes are on full display, and Teffi puts a stethoscope to the heavy heart of a lonely child and her stuffed animal. Finally, Mikhail Zoshchenko recounts madcap anecdotes of new year's trees and Christmas thieves. There is no shortage of vodka or wit on display in this volume packed with sentimental songs, footmen, whirling winds, solitary nights, snow drifts, and hopeful children"--back cover