Tufts & Co. Pocket Essentials Maxim Gorky, the great chronicler of Russia’s restless poor, captures the resilience, wit, and bitterness of the marginalized in these two powerful short works. In Waiting for the Ferry , a group of weary travelers —peasants, vagabonds, and ordinary folk— congregate at the water’s edge, their conversations revealing lives lived under hardship yet marked by sharp humor and moments of unexpected tenderness. With unflinching realism, Gorky transforms the idle hours of waiting into a portrait of human endurance. - In The Affair of the Clasps , Gorky turns a seemingly minor incident into a parable of injustice and petty authority. What begins as a trivial dispute over clasps spirals into a commentary on power, pride, and the indignities inflicted upon the powerless. Together, these stories showcase Gorky’s mastery in making the overlooked and dispossessed central to literature, laying bare the fractures of Russian society on the brink of revolution. This edition brings back the first English translations (1905) by Dora B. Montefiore, Emily Jakowleff, and Vera Volkhovsky, voices of the radical émigré world that helped introduce Gorky to Western audiences. Why Adult Readers Will Love This Edition: Atmospheric and deeply human vignettes of ordinary Russians at the turn of the century. - Perfect for admirers of Chekhov’s psychological insight and Zola’s social realism. - A rare chance to read Gorky in historic English translations shaped by politically engaged women translators. What Scholars Say: “Gorky made the poor speak in their own voices, and he forced readers —Russian and Western alike— to listen. Few writers have captured the mixture of bitterness and dignity in ordinary lives so vividly.” — Orlando Figes , A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891–1924 (1996) “His realism is muscular, unsentimental, and profoundly humane. In tales such as Waiting for the Ferry , Gorky invests the small moments of life with epic resonance.” — Victor Terras , A History of Russian Literature (1991) “Every short story by Gorky is a window into the ferment of pre-revolutionary Russia— its misery, its humor, and its yearning for justice.” — Henri Troyat , Russian Writers (1987)