A collection of ironically self-aware and stylistically dazzling short stories touching on such territory as disease, civil war, and political turmoil, Notes on a Cuff and Other Stories showcases the prose style that Mikhail Bulgakov would come to be known for during the literary and theatrical renaissance of 1920s Moscow and beyond.
A collection of comic, self-aware, and stylistically dazzling short stories touching on such familiar territory for many Russian authors as disease, famine, civil war, and political turmoil, Notes on a Cuff and Other Stories showcases the style that Mikhail Bulgakov would be known for during the literary and theatrical renaissance of 1920s Moscow and beyond.Written between 1920 and 1921 while Bulgakov was employed as a doctor in a rural hospital in the Caucasus region, Notes on a Cuff presents a series of first-person comedic sketches centered on a young writer (Bulgakov’s semiautobiographical proxy) fighting to launch his literary career despite great personal and political odds.Like many of Bulgakov’s works, it was only partially published due to the heavy government censorship rampant at the time, but was nevertheless recognized by Bulgakov’s contemporaries in the Soviet literary community. In this collection of tales, one of the most original literary voices of the 20th century begins to emerge.This collection includes short pieces by Bulgakov, such as The Cockroach and A Dissolute Man, published in a new translation and for the first time in the English language. Together, these tales showcase the frequently bizarre day-to-day events of post-Revolution Soviet society at the beginning of the 20th century that seem almost too absurd to exist outside the realm of satire.The Alma Classics edition of Notes on a Cuff and Other Stories is translated by Roger Cockrell with the authorization of the Bulgakov Estate and Andrew Nurnberg Associates. Roger Cockrell was previously the Head of Russian at the University of Exeter and has worked extensively on expert translations of Russian works including Bulgakov’sThe White Guard. 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 Bulgakov’s works is the murky, mysterious underbelly of Soviet culture.
Mikhail Bulgakov
Mikhail Bulgakov was a Russian playwright, novelist, and physician best known for his satirical classic, The Master and Margarita. Born in Kiev in 1891, Bulgakov was drawn to both literature and the theater from his early youth. As a young man, Bulgakov studied to become a doctor and volunteered with the Red Cross during the First World War. He practiced medicine for some years after WWI, and was eventually drafted as an army physician during the Russian Civil War. He contracted typhus and nearly died at his posting, and after a shaky recovery he began his professional transition from physician to playwright and author. From 1919 until his death in 1940, his plays, short stories, and novels enjoyed degrees of critical and popular success, but Bulgakov also endured a great deal of criticism and censorship due to his propensity to mercilessly satirize the ethical and political shortcomings of life in the Soviet Union. His witty, biting, and frequently grotesque storytelling style caught the eye of Joseph Stalin, earning him some degree of political immunity. By the end of the 1920s, however, Bulgakov’s career had ground to a halt due to a government ban on the performance or publication of his work. Bulgakov’s relationship with Stalin protected him from arrest and execution, but he could not publish any of his works or stage his plays for the remaining years of his life. Over the next decade, the ailing writer began work on The Master and Margarita, which would be his last major creative effort before his death. A brilliant satire of Soviet society, it was not published until 1966, 26 years after his death. Although he never experienced stable success and renown during his life, Bulgakov’s body of work is now firmly situated within the pantheon of great 20th century Russian literature and theater.
