Bunkobons

← All books

Cover of The Gambler

The Gambler

by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Buy on Amazon

The Gambler is a short novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky about a young tutor in the employment of a formerly wealthy Russian general. Set in a hotel and casino in a German city, the theme of gambling reflects Dostoevsky's own experience of addiction to roulette. Dostoevsky completed the novel in 1866 under a strict deadline to pay off gambling debts.

Recommended by

"Nothing better on addiction."
By the Book: Thomas McGuane · nytimes.com
"I like this novel by Dostoevsky , due to the extraordinary background on how it was written, at the same time as he was writing Crime and Punishment . He had a certain time frame and a page count of 160 pages to submit within four months. He had agreed a contract in September that he had to submit a new novel to the publishers, Stellovsky, by the first of November. In the event of failure to produce this book Stellovsky would be given the rights to reprint all Dostoyevsky’s past and future work at any time and without further payment. The result was The Gambler ."
Crime Novels · fivebooks.com