Five Russian Dog Stories

A newly translated collection bringing together three canine tales from three giants of Russian literature Turgenev's Mumu is rescued from drowning by a mute serf, Gerasim, and quickly becomes his closest friend and comforter until Gerasim's mistress intervenes with tragic consequences. Shchedrin's Trezor is the perfect embodiment of canine fidelity, carrying out his duties to the letter, despite being chained up, badly treated, and sometimes not even fed. Chekhov's Kashtanka, when lost, is taken in by a circus clown and trained for an act in the ring. However, she prefers to return to her former abusive master, sitting in the audience at her first performance, rather than remain with her new caring, thoughtful owner. These stories have long been held in high esteem, tugging at readers' heartstrings for many years.

Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) was a Russian short story writer, playwright, and physician. Mikhail Saltykov (1826–1889), better known by his pseudonym Shchedrin, was a major Russian satirist of the 19th century. Ivan Turgenev (1818–1883) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright. Anthony Briggs is a professor of Russian language and literature who has written, translated, or edited 20 books in the field of Russian and English literature.