Note: his name is sometimes written Chekhov or Tchehov
Russian dramatist and short story writer. He studied medicine in Moscow, where he began writing short humorous stories for journals. Among the greatest of his mature stories are 'A Dreary Story' (1889), 'Ward No. Six' (1892), 'My Life' (1896), 'Ionych' and the trilogy 'The Man in a Case', 'Gooseberries', and 'About Love' (all 1898), and 'The Lady with the Little Dog' (1899). Chekov's first successful play was Ivanov (1887), and he then wrote several light one-act comedies. His status as a dramatist, however, rests on his four late plays. The Seagull (1895) ... was followed by Uncle Vanya (1900), Three Sisters (1901), and The Cherry Orchard (1904). ...
Chekov's work is characterized by its subtle blending of naturalism and symbolism; by its sympathetic, humane, but acutely observed portraits of a threatened upper class stifled by inactivity and ennui; and above all by its unique combination of comedy, tragedy, and pathos, and the sensitivity of its movement from one mode to another.
(source: The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 5th edition, ed. Margaret Drabble, 1985)
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was awarded a Times Pick by the Los Angeles Times on 1/29/98.
