A Russian author, playwright, and physician, Anton Chekhov is widely considered one of the best short-story writers of all time. Having influenced such writers as Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Carver, and James Joyce, Chekhov's stories are often noted for their stream-of-consciousness style and their vast number. Raymond Carver once said, "It is not only the immense number of stories he wrote--for few, if any, writers have ever done more--it is the awesome frequency with which he produced masterpieces, stories that shrive us as well as delight and move us, that lay bare our emotions in ways only true art can accomplish." In The Complete Stories of Anton Chekhov, Volume 2: 1886, Blackstone has compiled fifty-five of Chekhov's short stories: ArtA BlunderChildrenMiseryAn UpheavalAn Actor's EndThe RequiemAnyutaIvan MatveyitchThe WitchA Story without an EndA JokeAgafyaA NightmareGrishaLoveEaster EveLadiesStrong ImpressionsA Gentleman FriendA Happy ManThe Privy CouncillorA Day in the CountryAt a Summer VillaPanic FearsThe Chemist's WifeNot WantedThe Chorus GirlThe SchoolmasterA Troublesome VisitorThe HusbandA MisfortuneA Pink StockingMartyrsThe First-Class PassengerTalentThe DependentsThe Jeune PremierIn the DarkA Trivial IncidentA Tripping TongueA Trifle from LifeDifficult PeopleIn the CourtA Peculiar ManMireDreamsHush!Excellent PeopleAn IncidentThe OratorA Work of ArtWho Was to Blame?VankaOn the Road