Nikolai Gogol

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Russian novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, and essayist
April 1, 1809 - March 4, 1852

known for
Brilliant satire, extraordinary wit. And a story about a man whose nose secedes from the union, and goes off to live a life of its own. His work falls into the absurdist camp, along with Kafka, and Dostoyevsky. Gogol was an imaginative giant and clearly took great pleasure in language.

in his own words
"I am destined by the mysterious powers to walk hand in hand with my strange heroes, viewing life in all its immensity as it rushes past me, viewing it through laughter seen by the world and tears unseen and unknown by it."

there are rumors that
Gogol was (a) queer, and (b) buried alive—both are probably bullshit, but hey, you never know (particularly the former. A more accurate description would be that he had various sexual relationships with both men and women, but never considered himself to be gay).

some books this author has written
Mirgorod
The Mantle: And Other Stories
The Overcoat and Other Short Stories
Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka
The Diary of a Madman: And Other Stories
The Collected Tales and Plays of Nikolai Gogol
Gogol Three Plays
The Overcoat and Other Tales of Good and Evil
Dead Souls
Taras Bul'Ba
The Government Inspector