This is a collection of stories about interesting, unusual, bright human characters and destinies. Contents: Gusev by Anton Chekhov Boule de Suif by Guy De Maupassant Alyosha the Pot by Leo Tolstoy Mateo Falcone by Prosper Mérimée Little Brother by Mary E. Mann Bartleby, The Scrivener by Herman Melville The Lightning-Rod Man by Herman Melville The Ambitious Guest by Nathaniel Hawthorne The Darling by Anton Chekhov A Simple Heart by Gustave Flaubert