Top 10 Anton Chekhov

1. Anton Chekhov: A Life

by Donald Rayfield. Northwestern University Press. From the publication: "Anton Chekhov's life was short, intense, and dominated by battles - both with his dependents and with the tuberculosis that was to kill him at age forty-four. He was one of the greatest playwrights and short-story writers ever born, but he was torn between medicine and literature, as he was between family and friends, between a longing for solitude and a need for company."

2. Anton Chekhov's Life and Thought: Selected Letters and Commentary

by Michael Henry Heim, Simon Karlinsky, and Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. Northwestern University Press. From the publisher: "First published in 1973, this collection of Chekhov's correspondence is widely regarded as the best introduction to this great Russian writer. Weighted heavily toward the correspondence dealing with literary and intellectual matters, this extremely informative collection provides fascinating insight into Chekhov's development as a writer."

3. The Selected Letters of Anton Chekhov

by Anton Chekhov, and Lillian Hellman (Editor). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. From the publisher: "Edited and with an introduction by Lillian Hellman, Chekov's letters are fascinating in their warmth, frankness and humanity, and they reveal a public and private man of conviction and compassion."

4. Anton Chekhov

by Harold Bloom (Editor). Chelsea House. From the publisher: "Anton Chekhov was equally distinguished as a short story writer and a dramatist. His work continues to exert its inflence on the modern short-story writer and playwright alike. Learn more about this extraordinary author through critical essays as well as an extensive biography."

5. Are You There, Crocodile?: Inventing Anton Chekhov

by Michael Pennington. Oberon Books. From the publisher: "In A're You There, Crocodile?' Michael Pennington retraces his ten-year search via Moscow, Siberia and London for identification with the elusive Chekhov - a journey that offers vivid insight into the Russia in which the playwright and his contemporaries lived."

6. Reading Chekhov: A Critical Journey

by Janet Malcolm. Random House. From the publisher: "To illuminate the mysterious greatness of Anton Chekhov's writings, Janet Malcolm takes on three roles: literary critic, biographer, and journalist. Her close readings of the stories and plays are interwoven with episodes from Chekhov's life and framed by an account of a recent journey she made to St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Yalta."

7. If Only We Could Know: An Interpretation of Chekhov

by Harvey J. Pitcher and Vladimir Kataev. Dee, Ivan R. Publisher. From the publisher: "Vladimir Kataev concerns himself chiefly with Chekhov's "conception of the world," his angle of vision on reality. It determines his unique treatment of a wide range of diverse themes, motifs, and situations. With ringing authority and critical common sense, Mr. Kataev examines Chekhov's major tales, stories, and plays, pointing out patterns of development in Chekhov's approach to characters and themes..."

8. Cambridge Companion to Chekhov

by Vera Gottlieb (Editor), and Paul Allain (Editor). Cambridge University Press. From the publisher: "This volume of specially commissioned essays explores the world of Anton Chekhov and the creation, performance and interpretation of his works. The Companion begins with an examination of Chekhov's life and his Russia. Later film versions and adaptations of Chehov's works are analyzed, with insights also offered on acting Chekhov... and directing Chekhov..."

9. To a Distant Island

by James McConkey. McConkey writes, "In late April of the year 1890, Anton Chekhov, who had been undergoing a depression so severe that his most recent biographer believes he might have been nearing a breakdown, left his home in Moscow for the penal colony on the island of Sakhalin, a journey of over sixty-five hundred miles, or more than a quarter of our planet's circumference."

10. Anton Chekhov's Plays

by Eugene K. Bristow and Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. Norton. From the publisher: "Eugene Bristow has rendered these masterpieces into readable, actable American English. He has also provided full annotation to help with reading the plays; introductions to each, discussing its sources and particular aspects of its structure and style; and an essay on translating Chekhov which provides further insight into the playwright's artistry."