It was . . . it is hard to say precisely on what day, but probably on the most triumphant day of the life of Akaky Akakyevitch that Petrovitch at last brought the overcoat. He brought it in the morning, just before it was time to set off for the department. The overcoat could not have arrived more in the nick of time, for rather sharp frosts were just beginning and seemed threatening to be even more severe. Petrovitch brought the greatcoat himself as a good tailor should. There was an expression of importance on his face, such as Akaky Akakyevitch had never seen there before. He seemed fully conscious of having completed a work of no little moment and of having shown in his own person the gulf that separates tailors who only put in linings and do repairs from those who make up new materials. Petrovitch helped him to put it on, and it appeared that it looked splendid too with his arms in the sleeves. In fact it turned out that the overcoat was completely and entirely successful.
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1809–1852) was a Russian author and playwright of Ukrainian origin, whose deep influence has been widely recognized in world literature. In 1842, he published the short story “The Overcoat” (sometimes translated as “The Cloak”), which is now seen as “the greatest Russian short story ever written.” At its center is Akaky Akakyevitch, a humble copyist whose life is marked by ridicule, invisibility, and quiet endurance. When his threadbare coat disintegrates, Akaky commissions a new one — a modest garment that rapidly transforms his fate. With it, he is seen, celebrated, and even welcomed. Without it, the fragile dignity it conferred vanishes, and Akaky’s sudden ascent collapses under the gravity of indifference. Gogol’s tale fractures along this spectral seam — between visible and invisible, poverty and pride, body and soul, coat and man. In its duality, “The Overcoat” becomes both elegy and indictment, and, in its misalignment, reveals the spiritual cost of being seen too late.
Test Your Might
Available on backorder
Arriving Soon-ish! Available NOW for pre-order (backorder) — expected to ship mid to late December.
“The greatest Russian short story ever written.” —Vladimir Nabokov
“Nabokov thought Gogol succeeded when he was visionary, not rational, as in the grimly fantastic story ‘The Overcoat.’” —Leonard Michaels, The Lost Angeles Times
“We all came out from under Gogol’s overcoat.” —Eugène-Melchior de Vogüé
“Nikolai Gogol’s famous long short story, ‘The Overcoat’ . . . had a marked influence on Russian fiction . . . distinguished by a kind of humor, both gentle and satiric, of which Gogol was a master.” —Tampa Bay Times
“Gogol’s story is carried to the baroque extreme.” —The Boston Globe
“‘The Overcoat’ pointed out Gogol’s pity for the underdog.” —The Inter Lake
“Nikolai Gogol is called the father of Russian realism. If this be so, he has engendered a lot of long, depressing, realistic novels, while his own stories are exactly the opposite. For even when describing a tragic scene, Gogol is not dreary or depressing; his writing fairly sparkles with life, wit, charm, and humor.” —Lars-Erik Nelson, New York Herald Tribune
“The end of ‘The Overcoat’ is in part a parody of literary convention — specifically, that of poetic justice — and a joke at the expense of the mind that would find it.” —Edward Proffitt
“Out of his fear-drenched and God-saturated existence came a tremendous range of characters, more grotesque than realistic, as they are usually taken to be, the monstrously merry and the piteously groveling — from the mammoth-sized, 15th century Cossack hero Taras Bulba to the less than flea-sized contemporary bureaucrats that inhabit ‘The Overcoat.’” —John O’Neill, The Atlanta Journal
Want to be kept in the loop about new Heathen Editions, receive discounts and random cat photos, and unwillingly partake in other tomfoolery? Subscribe to our newsletter! We promise we won’t harass you – much. Also, we require your first name so that we can personalize your emails. ❤️
@heatheneditions #heathenedition
Copyright © 2025 Heathen Creative, LLC. All rights reserved.