The Pit

This edition publishes the story by A.I. Kuprin "The Pit". The author formulated his task in the words of one of the characters: "...Our artists... for some reason have still avoided prostitution and the brothel. Perhaps out of disgust, cowardice, fear of being labeled a pornographic writer, and finally, simply out of fear that our nepotistic criticism equates the artistic work of the writer with his personal life and will go digging into his dirty laundry. Or maybe they lack the time, selflessness, or composure to delve fully into this life and observe it very closely, without prejudice, without loud phrases, without sheepish pity, in all its monstrous simplicity and everyday practicality".