Gogol

Nikolai Gogol (1809–1852) was one of the most original and elusive writers of the nineteenth century: a comic genius, a master of the grotesque and a restless traveller whose life crossed the cultural worlds of Ukraine, Russia and Europe. In this first comprehensive account of Gogol’s life and work in a generation, Oliver Ready draws on the latest scholarship, as well as his own translations of Gogol’s fiction, to present a concise yet richly nuanced portrait. Moving beyond familiar myths and stereotypes, he portrays a figure shaped by competing loyalties, spiritual longings, creative ambition and periods of profound inner struggle. Attentive to Gogol’s enduring connections with Ukraine as well as his wider European horizons, Ready illuminates the sources of an extraordinary imagination and the complexities of identity, belonging and artistic creation.