A socially adept newcomer fluidly inserts himself into an unnamed Russian town,
conquering first the drinkers, then the dignitaries. All find him amiable, estimable,
agreeable. But what exactly is Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov up to?--something that will
soon throw the town "into utter perplexity."

After more than a week of entertainment and "passing the time, as they say, very
pleasantly," he gets down to business--heading off to call on some landowners. More
pleasantries ensue before Chichikov reveals his bizarre plan. He'd like to buy the
souls of peasants who have died since the last census. The first landowner looks
carefully to see if he's mad, but spots no outward signs. In fact, the scheme is
innovative but by no means bonkers. Even though Chichikov will be taxed on the
supposed serfs, he will be able to count them as his property and gain the reputation
of a gentleman owner. His first victim is happy to give up his souls for free--less
tax burden for him. The second, however, knows Chichikov must be up to something, and
the third has his servants rough him up. Nonetheless, he prospers.

Dead Souls is a feverish anatomy of Russian society (the book was first published in
1842) and human wiles. Its author tosses off thousands of sublime epigrams--including,
"However stupid a fool's words may be, they are sometimes enough to confound an
intelligent man," and is equally adept at yearning satire: "Where is he," Gogol
interrupts the action, "who, in the native tongue of our Russian soul, could speak to
us this all-powerful word: forward? who, knowing all the forces and qualities, and all
the depths of our nature, could, by one magic gesture, point the Russian man towards
a lofty life?" Flannery O'Connor, another writer of dark genius, declared Gogol
"necessary along with the light." Though he was hardly the first to envision property
as theft, his blend of comic, fantastic moralism is sui generis.

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