appearance and even personality are also based on Gogol. The story has the structure of a comedy; it was originally intended as a play. Dostoevsky wrote this novel for Mikhail Katkov, main editor of The Russian Messenger. In a letter to his brother Mikhail, Dostoevsky wrote: "The long story that I am writing for Katkov displeases me very much and goes against the grain. But I have already written a great deal, it's impossible to throw it away in order to begin another, and I have to pay back a debt." The novel was ultimately published in Krayevsky's National Annals. Literary significance References External links Full text of The Village of Stepanchikovo in the original Russian The Village of Stepanchikovo, review at The Lectern, February 12, 2009 1859 Russian novels Novels by Fyodor Dostoevsky Works originally published in Otechestvennye Zapiski Russian satirical novels