Diaboliad and Other Stories

'Bulgakovs strong point was his ability to amplify the roots of mans dementia, the howls of political pandemonium, and many of the stories here build up pressure as the characters thrash along, pursuing or pursued...a lively collection.' Washington Post Book World

Mikhail Bulgakovs Diaboliad and Other Stories, comprised of Diaboliad, No. 13 The Elpit Workers Commune, A Chinese Tale, and The Adventures of Chichikov, serves as an excellent introduction to this renowned Russian satirist and playwrights work.

Black comedy, biting social and political commentary, and Bulgakovs unique narrative exuberance combine to tell the tales of labyrinthine post-Revolution bureaucracy, clashes between science, the intellectual class, and the state, and the high price to be paid for the promised utopian world of Communism in early Soviet Russia. Bulgakovs signature eloquent skewering of the various shortcomings of the word around and within him can be found on every page, and horror and magic interweave in a constant dance of the absurda dance that would reach its highest point both stylistically and thematically in Bulgakovs tour de force novel The Master and Margarita.

The Alma Classics edition of Diabolidad is translated by Hugh Aplin with the authorization of the Bulgakov Estate and Andrew Nurnberg Associates. Hugh Aplin has worked at the Universities of Leeds and St. Andrews and is currently Head of Russian at Westminster School, London. His translation reflects the clear, humorous, and profound language of the original with colloquial English idioms and phrasings. Readers without previous experience in Russian literature will find this translation to be accessible and fun, even though the subtext of Bulgakovs works is the murky, mysterious underbelly of Soviet culture.