Typical targets of Zoshchenko's satire are the Soviet bureaucracy, crowded conditions in communal apartments, marital infidelities and the rapid turnover in marriage partners, and "the petty-bourgeois mode of life, with its adulterous episodes, lying, and similar nonsense." His devices are farcical complications, satiric understatement, humorous anachronisms, and an ironic contrast between high-flown sentiments and the down-to-earth reality of mercenary instincts.

Zoshchenko's sharp and original satire offers a marvelous window on Russian life in the 20s and 30s.

Contents:

• What the Nightingale Sang
• The Lilacs Are Blooming
• Michel Sinyagin
• Nervous People
• The Lady Aristocrat
• The Bathhouse
• Dog Scent
• The Crisis
• Poverty
• Patients
• Lyalka Fifty
• Pelageya
• Lucky
• Summer Breather
• The Merry Go-Round
• The Watchman
• The Czar's Boots
• The Quality of Production
• A Clever Little Trick
• The Bottle
• The Nursemaid
• Don't Speculate
• The Affidavit
• Weak Packaging
• The Story of a Man Who Was Purged from the Party
• Incident on the Volga
• Baths and People
• A Forge of Health
• A Tragicomedy
• An Amusing Adventure
• A Water Ballet
• Much Ado about Nothing
• A True Incident
• The Galosh
• A Heart of Stone
• More on the Anti-Noise Campaign
• The Dictaphone
• The History of an Illness
• Big-City Lights
• Clouds
• The Pushkin Centennial
• The Canvas Brief Case
• The Funeral Feast
• Rosa-Maria
• A Jolly Game
• A Final Unpleasantness
• Bees and People
• The Buoy
• The Adventures of a Monkey
• An Extraordinary Incident
• Before Sunrise (autobiography excerpt)