The New Yorker had a long piece about the author, but said little about this first collection of stories published in English. Oddly I can find no listing for any collection of stories or any other published book by this author in Russian. I put in for it at my public library and soon often had a copy to read.

The New Yorker compared the author to Chekhov - I suppose in certain ways this is accurate, since both are medical doctors and wrote mostly about life outside of Moscow or St. Petersburg. I can't say if there is more than that, since I last read Chekhov decades ago.

These short stories are the type that end and it isn't obvious what will happen next with the main character or characters.