Autobiography of Maxim Gorky : My Childhood; In the World; My Universities, 3 Volumes in One

From the front flap of this 616 page book: "Maxim Gorky, like Leo Tolstoy, was primarily an autobiographical author and these three volumes, 'My Childhood', 'In the World', and 'My Universities' are considered among the greatest of his writings. Not only do they give the astonishingly varied life of Gorky from childhood through youth, but they also provide us with an unforgettable picture of one of the most crucial generations in Russian life and history - the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These three works were published separately more than a quarter of a century ago. Long out of print, they are here available in a new, complete excellent translation by Isidor Schneider. The autobiography begins at the age of five and ends with Gorky secure in his position as one of the leading Russian writers. From the beginning, the story is organized as a quest for knowledge and understanding, of oneself, and the world one lives in. This quest brings Gorky into contact with the harsh realities of life in late 19th century Russia - the life that was to constitute his 'universities'. We follow him as he turns from one job to another in an effort to make a living for himself. We move with Gorky in his life of wandering from one part of Russia to the next, and, in the course of the journey, we meet some of the most extraordinary characters in literature. Each character is sharply individualized, mountingly alive, fascinating. There is Gorky's grandmother with her strength, her idealism, her superstition, her sympathy. Herself a folk bard, she passed on to Gorky the impulse to hearten others and a rich store of folk song and folk story. There is Smoury, the chef of a Volga steamer, whom Gorky was later to call one of his outstanding teachers. The is also Olga, the woman whom Gorky had his first love affair. In his portrait of these and many other fascinating characters in the book, Gorky has given us one of the greatest life stories in literature."