The Prank is Chekhov's own selection of the best of his early work, the first book he put together and the first book he hoped to publish. Assembled in 1882, with illustrations by Nikolay Chekhov, the book was then presented to the censor for approval-which was denied. Now, more than a hundred and thirty years later, The Prank appears here for the first time in any language.

"In this extraordinary collection of twenty tales, Richard Ford, a master short story writer in his own right, has selected his personal favorites from among more than two hundred of Chekhov's tales and short novels. These stories, ordered chronologically from 1886 to 1899, are drawn from Chekhov's most fruitful years as a short story writer. The translation is by Constance Garnett, who brought Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and Turgenev to the English-speaking...