What made Chekhov tick? What served as a source of creative inspiration in his life? In answering these questions, Russian scholar Rosamund Bartlett focuses on the writer' s intimate relationship with the places where he lived and traveled-- Taganrog and the southern Russian steppes, Moscow, Petersburg, Siberia, the French Riviera, and Yalta. By looking at his life through the prism of these landscapes, it is possible to gain a far greater insight into one of the most enigmatic writers who ever lived. "Chekhov: Scenes from a Life" restores the humor and warmth to a man too often seen as merely melancholic, and reminds us why many consider him to be the greatest short-story writer of all time.