Janet Malcolm
Reading Chekhov: A Critical Journey.
Random House, 2001. First printing. 0375506683 209 pages.
Volume, measuring approximately 6" x 8.75", is bound in gilt-lettered dark brown paper spine and beige paper-covered boards. Book and dust jacket are like new.
"A perfect match of author and subject. In an effort to know one of her favorite writers better. Janet Malcolm -- who has brought light to the dark and complicated corners of psychoanalysis and has exposed the treacheries inherent within journalism--traveled to Russia and the places where Chekhov lived and worked. Out of her encounters with modern-day Russians she builds bridges backward in time to Chekhov and to the characters and ideas in his unexampled short stories and plays. The chapters are like pools of thought that coalesce into a profound, unified vision of one of Western literary culture's most important figures. For example, Chekhov's self-effacement prompts a consideration of his characters' odd un-pin-down-ability and then a discussion of limitations in writing biography."