The Russian Master

"Chekhov is a master at making his characters' darkest aspects comprehensible and human. He's never sentimental and he's not particularly pleasant, but he will always feel modern because of his astonishing juxtapositions and the way his characters' swift, darting minds vacillate between idealism and boredom, vanity and hope."

- Mona Simpson evaluates Chekhov's short stories -- and tells you where you can download all the 201 Constance Garnett translations online