The Overcoat and other short stories (Nikolai Gogol, 1835, 1836, 1842)

Patricia had taken this book out of the library because "The Overcoat" is mentioned in a movie we've rented ("The Namesake"). So I read the four short stories.

I like Gogol's stuff. (And his book "Dead Souls" is the first book listed on this website.) The Overcoat is a sad satire of an anonymous clerk who doesn't have much of a life, lacks cash, and is the butt of jokes at his one social outlet - his job at the ministry. They laugh about his worn-out coat (call it "the mantle"). The thing finally falls apart to where he must buy a new one - but it requires 80 rubles. After scrimping for six months - and anticipating the new coat through consultations with his tailor and window-shopping material - he finally gets the coat. Everyone praises the coat. But things don't turn out so well.