The stories collected here, written during the final decade of Chekhov's life, reveal a writer who, in response to the techniques of Symbolism and Impressionism, was moving beyond 19th-century realism to become an influential innovator of the modern short story.

The stories collected here, written during the final decade of Chekhov's life, reveal a writer who, in response to the techniques of Symbolism and Impressionism, was moving beyond 19th-century realism to become an influential innovator of the modern short story.