The Diary of a Provincial in St. Petersburg

"The Diary of a Provincial in St. Petersburg" is a phantasmagoric portrayal of life in the Russian capital during the 1870s, combining several thematic lines: total projectivism, astonishing schemes masquerading as noble endeavors, the lack of ideas in public and political life, and more. Fantasy and humor, along with a variety of artistic techniques (from the 'resurrection' of well-known literary characters by Turgenev and Goncharov to the parodying of laws and articles by contemporary journalists) make this novella by Saltykov-Shchedrin one of the jewels of Russian literature. 

Exacting and picky, caustic and merciless — such epithets can characterize the talent of M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, the author of the famous novels "The History of a Town" and "The Golovlevs." His satire responded to all significant phenomena of public life, criticizing vices, exposing lies, and moral decline of the era of the "great reforms." However, the works of Saltykov-Shchedrin, written for the moment, paradoxically remain perpetually modern.