A Bad Business: Essential Stories - Paperback

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by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Author), Nicolas Pasternak (Translator), Maya Slater (Translator)

A collection of 6 thrilling short stories by the classic Russian author of Crime and Punishment, full of existential angst and wicked humor.

"A sprightly new translation... [that] reminds us how extremely funny [Dostoevsky] could be." -Times Literary Supplement

With stories ranging from impossible fantasy to scorching satire, this wonderful collection from the renowned author of Crime and Punishment is the perfect introduction to one of the greatest of all fiction writers.

A civil servant finds a new passion for his work - and a taste for fame - when he's swallowed alive by a crocodile. A struggling writer stumbles on a cemetery where the dead still talk to each other. An arrogant but well-intentioned gentleman provokes an uproar at a subordinate's wedding, and in the marital bed. A widowed pawnbroker remembers the events leading to his marriage, in an attempt to understand his wife's death. And a young boy finds unexpected salvation on a cold and desolate Christmas Eve.

This vivid new translation by Nicolas Pasternak Slater and Maya Slater illuminates Dostoyevsky's dazzling versatility as a writer. His remarkable short fiction swings from wickedly sharp humour to gripping psychological intensity, from cynical social mockery to moments of unexpected tenderness.

A microcosm of Dostoyevsky's themes, these stories offer existential insight, an indictment of social inequality, and extremes of agony and ecstasy. They also showcase his lesser-known comic mode, in flashes of satirical brilliance and antic farce. This collection provides a palette holding each shade of Dostoyevsky's talent - and of human experience.

Author Biography

Fyodor Dostoyevsky was born in Moscow in 1821. A strong critic of the tsarist regime, he spent four years in a Siberian prison camp followed by six years of military service in exile. A renowned writer and journalist, his masterpieces of psychological and existential fiction include Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Brothers Karamazov and Notes from the Underground.

Nicolas Pasternak Slater a bilingual nephew of Boris Pasternak, is a retired haemotologist. Published translations include Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago, Tolstoy's short stories, and, for Pushkin Press, stories by Ivan Turgenev and Anton Chekhov.

Maya Slater has published translations of Molière and other French writers, and co-translations with her husband Nicolas Pasternak Slater. She is a Senoir Research Fellow of Queen Mary University of London.

Number of Pages: 288

Dimensions: 1 x 7.7 x 5 IN

Publication Date: August 25, 2026