A DogÕs Heart

Mikhail Bulgakov

Nov 2010 · Naxos AudioBooks · Narrated by Roy McMillan

About this audiobook

When a respected surgeon decides to transplant human body parts into a stray dog, he creates a monsterÊÐ drunken, profligate, aggressive and selfish. It seems the worst aspects of the donor have been transplanted as well. As his previously well-regulated home descends into riotous chaos, the doctor realises he will have to try to reverse the operation; but the dog isnÕt so keenÉ Wild, uproarious and deliriously comic, BulgakovÕs short novel is at once a comment on the problems of 1920s Russia and a lasting satire on human nature.

About the author

Mikhail Afanasevich Bulgakov was a Russian playwright, novelist, and short-story writer best known for his use of humor and satire. He was born in Kiev, Ukraine, on May 15, 1891, and graduated from the Medical School of Kiev University in 1916. He served as a field doctor during World War I. Bulgakov's association with the Moscow Art Theater began in 1926 with the production of his play The Days of the Turbins, which was based on his novel The White Guard. His work was popular, but since it ridiculed the Soviet establishment, was frequently censored. His satiric novel The Heart of a Dog was not published openly in the U.S.S.R. until 1987. Bulgakov's plays including Pushkin and Moliere dealt with artistic freedom. His last novel, The Master and Margarita, was not published until 1966-67 and in censored form. Bulgakov died in Moscow on March 10, 1940.