The Other Chekhov is an anthology of Anton Chekhov’s lesser-known masterpieces, including “Gusev,” “The Murder,” and “The Two Volodyas,” and featuring introductory pieces (essays, criticism, comix, and fiction) from writers including Pinckney Benedict, Benjamin Percy, Jeff Parker, Fred Chappell, and Christopher Coake. The volume was selected and edited by Okla Elliott and Kyle Minor.
Praise for The Other Chekhov:
“The ten stories in this collection are varied examples of the richness of Chekhov’s craft and his genius, which are by turns subversive, humanistic, sociological, terrifying, and scathingly humorous.” — Thomas E. Kennedy, author of The Copenhagen Quartet
“Elliott and Minor have given us Anton Chekhov as many of us know him and love him. As usual there is nothing romanticized. Everything is written in a style that is sparse and cool. Chekhov stays true to his refusal to give more than the mildest pity to his characters, many of whom are ignorant and foolish but still have a certain dignity, a certain humanity that deserves more than what happens to them in the course of their meager, often petty lives. As he said in a letter to a friend written in 1892: “When you portray miserable wretches and unlucky people and want to stir the reader to compassion, try to be cooler.” — Duff Brenna, author of Too Cool
“It isn’t only Chekhov that’s the draw in this anthology. Elliott and Minor explain that they ‘invited ten contemporary writers to introduce one story each, in any way they like.’ The result is a variety of approaches that the editors sum up as ‘personal essays, critical essays, imagined Chekhovian narratives, [and a] comic strip.’ Not your usual fare.” — Miriam Kotzin, Per Contra
“This is a smart project, and one that helps to reclaim Chekhov from those folks who would beat us to death with the ‘requirement’ of quotidian detail and plotting. Chekhov, this book tells us, was just as obsessed with the strange and outre as most of the rest of us.” — Pinckney Benedict, author of Town Smokes and Dogs of God
“Reading The Other Chekhov, we are reminded, story after story, of Chekhov’s mastery of the techniques and possibilities of the short story. But this book is not only the stories. The introductions, with the variety of their approaches and their original commentaries, deepen our own insights and appreciation of Chekhov’s accomplishments and their legacy for all writers.” — Walter Cummins, The Literary Review
