{"product_id":"9781612192482","title":"My Life","description":"\u003cb\u003e...perhaps I was not living as I ought.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRenowned as the greatest short story  writer ever, Anton Chekhov was also a master of the novella, and perhaps his most  overlooked is this gem, \u003ci\u003eMy Life\u003c\/i\u003e—the tale of a rebellious young man so disgusted with  bourgeois society that he drops out to live amongst the working classes, only to  find himself confronted by the morally and mentally deadening effects of provincialism.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e The 1896 tale is partly a commentary on Tolstoyan philosophy, and partly an autobiographical  reflection on Chekhov's own small-town background. But it is, more importantly, Chekhov  in his prime, displaying all his famous strengths—vivid characters, restrained but  telling details, and brilliant psychological observation—and one of his most stirring  themes: the youthful struggle to maintain idealism against growing isolation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eThe Art of The Novella Series\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003eToo short to be a novel, too long to be a short story, the novella is generally unrecognized by academics and publishers. Nonetheless, it is a form beloved and practiced by literature's greatest writers. In the Art Of The Novella series, Melville House celebrates this renegade art form and its practitioners with titles that are, in many instances, presented in book form for the first time.","brand":"Melville House Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47135492178160,"sku":"9781612192482","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781612192482_p0.jpg?v=1763843194","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781612192482","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}