"With amazing insight, Anton Chekhov wrote of the lives of the Russian common man as well as the landowner. He established the style of the modern short story and influenced many great writers, including George Bernard Shaw, James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, Katherine Mansfield, and Virginia Woolf. Includes ""The Black Monk"" — a tale of a man who blissfully chats with the vision of a wise, mysterious monk — and ""The Kiss,"" ""The Helpmate,"" and ""Expensive Lessons."""