The Gentleman from San Francisco and Other Stories

The Gentleman from San Francisco and Other Stories (1922) is a collection of short stories by Russian author and Nobel laureate Ivan Bunin. Published in Russian in 1915, The Gentleman from San Francisco and Other Stories was first translated to English in 1922 by D.H. Lawrence, Leonard Woolf, and Samuil Koteliansky, and was published by Virginia and Leonard Woolf's storied Hogarth Press. The title story, translated by Lawrence and Koteliansky, is among Bunin's most famous works and was considered upon publication to be the finest work of Russian literature since the deaths of Anton Chekhov and Leo Tolstoy.

"The Gentleman from San Francisco" is the story of an American millionaire who travels to Italy while on a lengthy vacation with his wife and daughter. Disappointed with the weather in Naples, as well as with the rundown state of the city, the family journeys to the island of Capri where, in the lobby of their luxury hotel, the man dies. The remainder of the story captures the reaction of the hotel's wealthy clientele, as well as the indifference and hostility with which the staff treat the gentleman's body. Noted for its cold, critical tone, as well as its subtle critique of wealth and American exceptionalism, "The Gentleman from San Francisco" is a masterpiece of Russian literature and an essential work of short fiction. Included in this collection are the stories "Gentle Breathing," "Kasimir Stanislavovitch," and "Son," all of which capture the breadth and intricacy of Bunin's literary style. The Gentleman from San Francisco and Other Stories is a compact and compelling collection of stories from one of Russia's greatest writers, translated by two of the most important figures in early twentieth century English literature.

With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Ivan Bunin's The Gentleman from San Francisco and Other Stories is a classic of Russian literature reimagined for modern readers.

Ivan Bunin (1870-1953) was a Russian author. His poems, novels, and short stories are recognized for their continuation of the realist tradition in Russian literature as well as for their stylistic intricacy. Born in Voronezh to a family of wealthy landowners, Bunin was encouraged in his intellectual and literary interests from a young age. By the late 1870s, however, his father's gambling addiction plunged the family into poverty. Unable to afford private tutors, Bunin was forced to attend public school for several years before failing to complete his courses. He moved to Kharkov for work in 1889 and published his first collection of poetry in 1891, after which he began publishing essays, articles, short stories, and poems regularly in Saint Petersburg periodicals. In 1894, he travelled across Ukraine before returning to Russia and visiting Moscow for the first time, where he met Leo Tolstoy and Anton Chekhov, among others, and began to move in some of Russia's most prestigious intellectual and literary circles. He published extensively throughout his lifetime, was awarded the Pushkin Prize in 1903 and 1909, and became the first Russian writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1933.