Pisemsky; a Provincial Realist

Aleksey Pisemsky is probably the last great mid-nineteenth century Russian writer to remain in obscurity. The author of numerous novels, short stories, and plays, he has been overshadowed by many of his better-known contemporaries. But with this first full-length study of Pisemsky in English, he may at last assume his proper rank in literature. As a writer, Pisemsky displayed a merciless honesty in dissecting corruption in personal affairs and established society. As a man, however, he had more than his share of human frailties. Charles Moser presents a searching literary and intellectual biography of this paradoxical figure.