Written in the midst of squalid poverty engendered by the author's compulsive gambling, The Idiot began as one story and ended as quite another. Dostoyevsky's notebooks reveal at least eight plans for the tale, with numerous variations on each plan. This unique document of his creative process is illustrated by facsimiles of original pages from the notebooks. REVIEW: "Superbly edited ... and well translated." - The New York Times Book Review.
