An entertaining parody of small-town manners and morals, this comic novella is a revelation
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When the aging Russian Prince, Prince K., arrives in the town of Mordasov, Marya Alexandrovna Moskaleva, a doyenne of local society life, takes him under her protection, with the aim of
engineering his marriage with her�23 year old daughter Zina. Yet with many rivals for the hands of both parties, events are not guaranteed to run smoothly. The gossiping and rumor of the
country village are deftly captured in Dostoevsky's mock-heroic tone. A rare foray into comedy by the giant of Russian literature,�this tale�nonetheless still possesses all the hallmarks of
Dostoevsky's psychological and philosophical writing.