Zoshchenko was a Russian satirist writing during the Stalinist period in the USSR. His most published pieces were newspaper entries, sort of humorous op-eds, perhaps like a cross between the American syndicated newspaper humorist Dave Barry and the American humorist/folktale teller Garrison Keillor. Zoshchenko's pieces here are a lot of the ones in the more recently translated and published 'The Galosh' but this version seems a little more upbeat and less depressing. The book includes a detailed Introduction as well as a piece at the end which is not a short satire but rather an autobiographical essay/musing on how Zoshchenko became depressed and a search through his childhood events. It is a telling and welcome twist in a different direction after many many stories about city life during the 20's, 30's, and 40's in Russia among the middle and lower class. The book also fits in a couple of true short stories before the newspaper pieces. At times laugh out loud funny most of it is in a signature style which is ironic, wistful, a little funny, with a life message that insists on persistence and ignoring the futility of trying to get ahead while the path gets harder. ( )