Lives and Deaths Essential Stories Author:Leo Tolstoy Although best known for his monumental novels, Tolstoy also wrote tightly compressed works of equal power. This new collection gathers two of his greatest novellas, Family Happiness and The Death of Ivan Ilyich, together with a late masterpiece, the fable-like story 'Alyosha the Pot'. — Whether writing about a young woman's developing fascination... more » with high society or plotting the travails of an optimistic young worker, Tolstoy was able to penetrate to the rich core of human experience like no writer before or since. These sensitive new renderings by award-winning translator Boris Dralyuk show with gleaming clarity Tolstoy's unmatched understanding of the human condition.« less