My Childhood

Maxim Gorky · 1868–1936 · Russia

Originally Detstvo (Russian)

Why it matters

Gorky's memoir-as-novel recounts a brutal, impoverished upbringing among tanners and thieves in provincial Russia. The first volume of an autobiographical trilogy that reads with all the shape and force of fiction.

At a glance

Vivid but straightforward episodic memoir prose, plain despite its harsh subject matter.