"Literary Beginnings: The Short Story," in Maxim Gorky, Twayne Publishers, 1988, pp. 21-36.

In the following essay, Scherr offers a thematic and stylistic survey of Gorky's short fiction from the 1890s.

Romantic Tales

Gorky's stories have been partially eclipsed in the popular imagination by his novels, plays, and autobiographical writings; and yet include some of his finest achievements. Of particular importance for an understanding of his literary career are his stories of the 1890s. These, his first published works, introduced new themes, new heroes, and new attitudes to Russian literature. What is more, Gorky developed his literary techniques within the genre of the short story and then applied them in his other fictional (and even some non-fictional) writings.

No less important than their subject matter and form is the role that Gorky's stories played in establishing his literary reputation. During the 1880s and 1890s the short story became a...