A Chekhov Circus

A guide to the short stories of Anton Chekhov

Category: First appeared in print in 1891

  • No. 12 – Peasant Wives

    Of the hundreds of Chekhov stories I have read, this is the one I have thought back on most often, so astounding are the characterizations, so complete the world created by the writer, and so cruel the lives he describes. The story is complicated, considering how brief it is. The opening pages are presented almost…

  • No. 159 – A Problem

    After a young man bounces a check, a family debates whether to bail him out.

  • No. 68 – The Duel

    In a languid seaside town, a mutual dislike festers and turns into a violent confrontation.