Inspired by Dostoevsky's own gambling addiction and written under
pressure in order to pay off his creditors and retain his rights to his
literary legacy, The Gambler is set in the casino of the fictional
German spa town of Roulettenburg and follows the misfortunes of the
young tutor Alexei Ivanovich. As he succumbs to the temptations of the
roulette table, he finds himself engaged in a battle of wills with
Polina, the woman he unrequitedly loves.
With an unforgettable cast of fellow gamblers and figures from European
high society, this darkly comic novel of greed and self-destruction
reveals Dostoevsky at his satirical and psychological best.