A critical and in-depth account of Chekhov's life and works.
In this book, Janet Malcolm takes on three roles: literary critic, biographer and journalist. Her close readings of the stories and plays are interwoven with episodes from Chekhov's life and framed by an account of a recent journey she made to St. Petersburg.
Writing of Chekhov's life, Malcolm demonstrates how the shadow of death that hovered over most of his literary career - he became consumptive in his twenties and died in his forties - is almost everywhere reflected in the work. She writes of his childhood, his relationship with his family, his marriage, his travels, his early success, his exile to Yalta - always with an eye to connecting them to the themes and characters of the stories and plays.
Lovers of Chekhov and readers who are new to his work will be gripped by Malcolm's multifaceted journey, and few readers of Reading Chekhov will not feel impelled to turn to or revisit the masterpieces.
