This collection includes: The Mantle (AKA The Cloak), The Nose, Memoirs of a Madman, A May Night, and The Viy. According to Wikipedia: Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (31 March 1809[4] – 4 March 1852[5]) was a Ukrainian-born Russian humorist, dramatist, and novelist. He is considered the father of modern Russian Realism, but, at the same time, his work is very much in the genre of Romanticism. His early works, such as Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka, were heavily influenced by Ukrainian culture and folklore. His more mature writing satirised political corruption in the Russian Empire, leading to his exile. After briefly flirting with conversion to Roman Catholicism while in Italy, on his return to Russia Gogol immersed himself in the Russian Orthodox Church. The novels Taras Bulba (1835; 1842 [revised edition]) and Dead Souls (1842), the play The Government Inspector (1836, 1842), and the short stories Diary of a Madman, The Nose, and The Overcoat (1842) are among his best-known works. With their scrupulous and scathing realism, ethical criticism, as well as philosophical depth, they remain some of the most important works ever written.