On this day in 1852 Nikolai Gogol died at the age of forty-two. His unique style -- most famously in stories "The Nose" and "The Overcoat," the play The Inspector General; and the novel Dead Souls -- is a comic-tragic-absurd hybrid which has led to him being labeled the Hieronymous Bosch of Russian Literature. Having come under the sway of a fanatical priest late in life, and then been subjected to the treatments of several quack doctors, Gogol's last days mirrored one of his nightmare stories all too closely. ... FULL STORY »
