With the publication of "The Overcoat" in 1842, Nicolai Gogol (1809-1852) inaugurated a new chapter in Russian literature, in which the underdog and social misfit is treated not as a figure of fun or an object of charity, but as a human being with as much right to happiness as anybody else.

Originally published under the title: Tales of good and evil, 1949.

The terrible vengeance -- Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka and his aunt -- The portrait -- Nevsky Avenue -- The nose -- The overcoat.