The young Chekhov: a comedian in spite of himself

Before Chekhov produced some of the greatest stories ever written about disappointment, death, long­ing, passion and loneliness, he was a different kind of writer: a newspaperman dashing off copy to feed the booming culture of weekly comic magazines in St Petersburg and Moscow. Small enough to operate largely beneath the censors’ attention, magazines such as the Spectator, Dragonfly and Alarm Clock rewarded topicality, brevity, irreverence and the ability to produce work at speed.
Read more: http://ift.tt/1Lj5tMP