The first English translation of fiction from the Russian "master of the feuilleton", whose writings were frequently banned by both the Tsarist and subsequent Soviet authorities.

A collection of moral fables, set primarily in mythical versions of China and the Middle East. To dismiss them solely as "Orientalist" — for, without a doubt, they are — would be to miss the point: unable to openly criticize contemporary society, instead we see the time-honoured method of transposing the criticism to another time and place. (See, for example, Tynyanov's Stalin-period satires.)

Which isn't to say that all is roses, however. Relatively short and numerous,they suffer much the same problem as attempting to digest all of Ambrose Bierce's social critiques at once: there's a more bit of a repetitiveness to the themes, the stock characters, and the morals, and attempting to digest them all at once can leave one weary. Best consumed in small, bite-sized doses. ( )