The Overcoat, and Other Tales of Good and Evil

With the publication of "The Overcoat" in 1842, Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852) inaugurated a new chapter in Russian literature, in which the underdog and social misfit is treated not as a figure of fun or an object of charity, but as a human being with as much right to happiness as anybody else. The compassion, simplicity, and gentle humor with which he treats the poignant quest of a hapless civil servant for the run of his stolen overcoat - and the fantastic yet realistic manner in which he takes revenge on his nemesis, the Very Important Person - mark "The Overcoat" as one of the greatest achievements of Gogol's genius.