Gogol

This unique book with a truly whimsical and dramatic fate reached readers over many years. The trial edition of Gogol's biography in the series "ZhZL", published in 1934, was banned because the author of the biography, the prominent writer and publicist Alexander Voronsky, faced repression. A few copies of this edition miraculously survived.

Voronsky's book is aimed at a wide readership. It recreates a vivid image of Gogol as a person and a writer. His artistic works interest the biographer primarily to the extent that they reflect the personality of the creator. Gogol in Voronsky's view possesses a sort of "double vision", allowing him, on one hand, to see the "materiality of the world" with remarkable sharpness, and on the other hand, to perceive the spiritual growth of a person.