The Diary of a Superfluous Man

Ivan Turgenev (1818-1883) stands as one of Russia's most influential authors. Along with Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, he helped shape the Russian novel and consequently the Russian identity. Born into wealth, Turgenev had a compelling vision of nobility and the perils of serfdom. His profound novels and short stories made him internationally revered. In this collection of short stories, Turgenev characterizes the "superfluous man"-an archetype which becomes central to the rest of his work and Russian literature at large.