Publisher's Synopsis
Self-righteous reformers, tightwad fathers and greedy sons, ambitious poor people flattering the vain and ignorant rich . . . there are few truly evil people in Chekhov's Russia, and that's part of the problem, because folly and greed are harder to admit to, let alone cure, than calculated malice. The doctor of human nature is in, and the results are seldom pretty, but often hilarious.