[kennychaffin]

From The Writer's Almanac: http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/

It's the birthday of Anton Chekhov (books by this author), born in Taganrog, Russia (1860). He was in medical school and took up writing as a way to support his family. He wrote sketches and stories, never spending more than a day on any story. Two years after he graduated, Chekhov got a letter from the critic Dmitry Grigorovich, telling him that he was the most gifted writer of his generation and should take his work more seriously. Chekhov responded: "Your letter struck me like lightning. I became very emotional upon opening it. I nearly cried. I understand now that if I have a gift, I should honor it, which I have not always done in the past."

The next year he published a collection of short stories, At Dusk (1887), and it won the Pushkin Prize, a huge literary award in Russia. That same year, he wrote his first play. As he earned more from his writing, he didn't give up his medical practice — instead, he treated more and more poor patients free of charge.

He said, "Any idiot can face a crisis — it's day to day living that wears you out."

[Nikolas]

One of the greatest writers of all time, and criminally underrated here in the U.S.

I know there's a cultural barrier for readers, I have no doubt some of the subtlety is lost in translation, and many of Chekov's stories seem to end abruptly or focus on seemingly-bizarre things...but it's so worth the effort.

Which reminds me, I've read most of the Chekhov collections at my local library, but there are a few I have yet to get to. I should make a stop there soon...