Arkady Timofeevich Averchenko was a remarkable Russian writer, playwright, theater critic, and editor of the legendary St. Petersburg magazine 'Satyricon,' which became a key cultural phenomenon of the Silver Age. A budding writer, Averchenko came to the capital from southern Russia hoping to try his luck—and soon became one of the most famous and successful humorists. The magazine he founded, according to Teffi, 'liberated Russian humor... Russia began to laugh.' This edition includes Averchenko's works from various years—humorous short stories, feuilletons, plays, the cycle 'A Dozen Knives in the Back of the Revolution,' and the novel 'The Joke of Maecenas.' Averchenko's subjects, from everyday scenes to biting political satire, are often grotesque, but no less truthful. Gentle humor, a cheerful, perky laugh, and caustic sarcasm—the entire comic palette is at the mercy of Averchenko's pen. It's no wonder his contemporaries called him 'the knight of the smile,' 'the king of laughter,' and 'the Russian Mark Twain.'