This book brings together Dostoevsky's works from the beginning of his literary career: 'A Novel in Nine Letters,' 'Another Man's Wife and a Husband Under the Bed,' 'Uncle's Dream,' 'A Bad Joke,' and 'The Crocodile.' It's difficult to discern the future author of the 'Great Pentateuch' in these works; we see a 'cheerful' Dostoevsky, revealing a talent for satirism and humor that would later only be glimpsed in his famous novels.