As enigmatic as he was influential, Nikolai Gogol is commonly referred to as the father Russian realism. Selected Stories of Nikolai Gogol draws from stories set in Ukraine and St. Petersburg. Included are "The Fair at Sorochintsï, " first published in Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka, the short story collection that launched Gogol's career and made him famous overnight, "The Viy, " a horror novella, "The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich, " one of Gogol's most humorous stories, and his most well-known tales: "The Diary of a Madman, " "The Nose, " and "The Overcoat, " which Nabokov called "the greatest Russian short story ever written." This unique Warbler Press edition includes an illuminating afterword by Patrick Maxwell and a biographical timeline.