Alexander Pushkinwas born into the Russian nobility in Moscow in
1799. Educated by French tutors while learning Russian from the
household serfs, he began publishing poems in his early teens and
soon gained widespread recognition, especially for his use of
vernacular. At 18 he received a government appointment in St.
Petersburg and threw himself into cultural life, including
associating with radical intellectuals. He published his first
major work, the long poemRusian and Ludmila, in 1820, shortly
before being banished from the capital for writing political poems
such asOde to Liberty.In 1825 some friends were involved in the
Decembrist uprising, and Pushkin's restrictions were tightened. Yet
he wrote some of his greatest work in exile, including his
playBoris Godunovand his novel-in-verseEugene Onegin. Finally
pardoned by the Tsar, he married Natalya Goncharova in 1831. They
became regulars of court society, which soon impoverished Pushkin,
and in 1837, scandalous rumors about Natalya prompted him to
challenge an alleged paramour to a duel. Wounded, Pushkin died two
days later. Fearing a public outpouring at his funeral, the
government removed his body in the night, to be buried at his
family's distant estate.
Josh Billingsis a fiction writer and translator who lives in Maine.
He is also the translator of the Melville House edition ofThe Duel,
by Aleksandr Kuprin.
"I wanted them all, even those I'd already read."
—Ron Rosenbaum, The New York Observer
"Small wonders."
—Time Out London
"[F]irst-rate…astutely selected and attractively
packaged…indisputably great works."
—Adam Begley, The New York Observer
"I’ve always been haunted by Bartleby, the proto-slacker. But it’s
the handsomely minimalist cover of the Melville House edition that
gets me here, one of many in the small publisher’s fine 'Art of the
Novella' series."
—The New Yorker
"The Art of the Novella series is sort of an anti-Kindle. What
these singular, distinctive titles celebrate is book-ness. They're
slim enough to be portable but showy enough to be conspicuously
consumed—tiny little objects that demand to be loved for the
commodities they are."
—KQED (NPR San Francisco)
"Some like it short, and if you're one of them, Melville House, an
independent publisher based in Brooklyn, has a line of books for
you... elegant-looking paperback editions ...a good read in a small
package."
—The Wall Street Journal
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
