Black Snow

Mikhail Bulgakov · 1891–1940 · Ukraine / Russia

Originally Teatralny Roman (Russian)

Why it matters

A failed novelist stumbles into Moscow's theater world and discovers its rehearsal rooms are as vicious and vain as anything in Soviet politics. Bulgakov's roman à clef skewers Stanislavski's own methods from the inside, unfinished at his death and unmistakably furious.

At a glance

A brisk, anecdotal satire, though its theatrical in-jokes reward knowing Bulgakov's own career.