From the author of the definitive biography of Fyodor Dostoevsky,
never-before-published lectures that provide an accessible introduction
to the Russian writer's major works
Joseph Frank (1918-2013) was perhaps the most important Dostoevsky
biographer, scholar, and critic of his time. His never-before-published
Stanford lectures on the Russian novelist's major works provide an
unparalleled and accessible introduction to some of literature's
greatest masterpieces. Presented here for the first time, these
illuminating lectures begin with an introduction to Dostoevsky's life
and literary influences and go on to explore the breadth of his
career--from Poor Folk, The Double, and The House of the Dead to
Notes from Underground, Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The
Brothers Karamazov. Written in a conversational style that combines
literary analysis and cultural history, Lectures on Dostoevsky places
the novels and their key characters and scenes in a rich context.
Bringing Joseph Frank's unmatched knowledge and understanding of
Dostoevsky's life and writings to a new generation of readers, this
remarkable book will appeal to anyone seeking to understand Dostoevsky
and his times.
The book also includes Frank's favorite review of his Dostoevsky
biography, "Joseph Frank's Dostoevsky" by David Foster Wallace,
originally published in the Village Voice.
