V.S. Pritchett explores the connections between Chekhov's life and art, showing how Chekhov often based his fiction on experiences of his difficult early years where he was responsible for his impoverished family, and as a young doctor, reported on the conditions of the Russian penal colony at Sakhalin. Later he continued his medical career, even when he became a well-known writer and playwright.

This book focuses on the short stories of Chekhov often neglected in favor of his plays and discusses why Chekhov was a success in both mediums. Pritchett, himself a master of the short story, is a uniquely qualified to write this superb biography.

"Pritchett...presents a unique critical perspective as a short story master whose work spans this century, interpreting an illustrious predecessor through their shared art." -Boston Globe