The letters of Anton Chekhov, like those of Flaubert, are astonishing in their immense range and in their literary quality. Beginning in 1885, when he was twenty-five, and ending with his death less than twenty years later, the correspondence testifies to an extraordinary career. Chekhov was not only a writer but a critic, a doctor, a traveler, a devoted lover and brother. He brings his passions and his immense talent to every subject. As witty and observant as his great plays and stories, Chekhov's letters exemplify his artistry and humanity.
In 1890, though already suffering from tuberculosis, he traveled to the prison colonies of Siberia and Sakhalin Island. His descriptions of that arduous journey are sharp, humorous, vividly detailed. Sympathy and a quick dramatic eye characterize his portraits of the people of the Russian countryside.
Chekhov speaks with eloquence and determination in his defense of Emile Zola during the Dreyfus affair (a stand which cost him one of his closest friendships), in his vigorous criticisms of the various productions of his plays -- especially the famous stagings by Konstantin Stanislavski --and in all his dealings with the other writers and critics of the Russian literary and theatrical world. In these letters this public and private man reveals his compassion and vulnerability as he records the vicissitudes of his family life, his love for the actress Olga Knipper (whom he eventually married), and the tragic breakdown of his health.

One of the finest authors of all time is Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, a Russian playwright and short-story writer who lived from 29 January 1860 to 15 July 1904. His four plays from his theatrical career are considered classics, and writers and critics highly regard his best short stories. Chekhov is sometimes listed as one of the three key figures in the development of early modernism in theater, together with Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg. Chekhov was a medical practitioner by trade. "Medicine is my lawful wife," he once stated, "and literature is my mistress." Chekhov delivers a "theatre of mood" and a "submerged life in the text" in place of traditional action in these four works, which poses a challenge to both the playing group and the spectator. Chekhov's plays evoked a little eerie mood for the audience while remaining simple and easy to follow. At initially, Chekhov wrote stories to get money, but as his desire to express himself creatively grew, he introduced formal changes that helped shape the development of the contemporary short story. He insisted that an artist's job was to pose questions, not to provide answers, and offered no apology for the challenges this presented to readers.