Chekhov's lyrical plays and uproarious farces continue to entertain theatergoers nearly a century after he wrote them. From his early work The Seagull --a depiction of estranged love and thwarted passion that became a great success Stanislavsky's Moscow Art Theater--to his last, The Cherry Orchard --the poignant portrayal of a land-owning family unable to adapt to a changing society--all his plays masterfully combine both levity and pathos. But his comedic genius comes to fruition most fully in his short entertainments, such as the hilarious courtship between a hypochondriac and a shrew depicted in The Proposal. Putting a "slice of life" on stage, Chekhov's dramatic art evokes the painful loneliness of the human condition, yet unfailingly highlights the pretensions and absurdities that make us laugh--at ourselves.
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From the Back Cover:
“Chekhov, speaking simply and never otherwise than as an artist and a humane man, shows us in fullness and plenitude the mystery of our lives.”—Eudora Welty
About the Author:
Michael Henry Heim is professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Los Angeles. His previous translations include Anton Chekhov’s Life and Thought: Selected Letters and Commentary (with Simon Karlinsky); The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera; and My Century, by Günter Grass. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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- PublisherBantam Classics
- Publication date1994
- ISBN 10 0553214276
- ISBN 13 9780553214277
- BindingMass Market Paperback
- Number of pages430
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