Written over the course of Leskov’s career, each story in The Enchanted Wanderer elucidates the very essence of the human condition; themes of love, despair, loneliness, and revenge are explored against the backdrop of nineteenth-century working-class Russia. Leskov deftly layers social satire and subtle criticism atop myth and fable, resulting in a richly entertaining collection.Author Biography: David Magarshack’s translations include works by Turgenev, Chekhov, Gorky, and Pushkin. His translation of The Best Short Stories of Fyodor Dostoevsky is available as a Modern Library Paperback Classic.V. S. Pritchett (1900–1996) was a prolific English writer, essayist, critic, novelist, and journalist.