The Double: A Petersburg Poem

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Dec 2012 · Blackstone Audio Inc. · Narrated by Nick Sullivan

About this audiobook

First published in 1846, Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novella The Double is a classic doppelganger and the second major work published by the author. It is the story of Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin, a government clerk who believes that a fellow clerk has taken over his identity and is determined to bring about his ruin. Considered the most Gogolesque of Dostoyevsky's works, the novella brilliantly depicts Golyadkin's descent into madness in a way that is hauntingly poetic. The Double illustrates Dostoyevsky's uncanny ability at capturing the complexity of human emotion, especially the darker side of the human psyche.

About the author

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821–1881) was a Russian novelist, journalist, and short-story writer whose psychological penetration into the darkest recesses of the human heart had a profound and universal influence on the twentieth-century novel. He was born in Moscow, the son of a surgeon. Leaving the study of engineering for literature, he published Poor Folk in 1846. As a member of revolutionary circles in St. Petersburg, he was condemned to death in 1849. A last-minute reprieve sent him to Siberia for hard labor. Returning to St. Petersburg in 1859, he worked as a journalist and completed his masterpiece, Crime and Punishment, as well as other works, including The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov.

Nick Sullivan has worked extensively on Broadway and throughout the United States. His television credits include 30 Rock, The Good Wife, All My Children, and all three Law & Order series. He has recorded hundreds of audiobooks, is an Audie Award winner, and has received numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards.