The Complete Tales of Nikolai Gogol, Volume I Book

Gogol's humor (though this isn't all humor) is observational and absurd. He likes to present people doing ridiculous things which they think are quite serious or intelligent. It's the kind of stuff that makes you laugh and shake your head at your friends and family.

Most of these stories are set in the Russian or Ukrainian countryside, so there's a strong rural sensibility. Yet, Gogol writes with equal deftness about people in St. Petersburg. If you know a little about the history (as i know a very little), you'll more quickly get what he's talking about with hetmen and whatnot, but it isn't necessary by any means. It's about human foibles, etc. so as long as you're human, you'll get it. This is the 19th century, so it's modern but pre-Communist.

The stories in this volume don't get quite as absurd as stuff like "The Nose" (in which some guy's nose--it's been years since i read it--leaves his face and walks around town in a hat and coat). The last story here, "Diary of a Madman" (i don't know if this is the first story with that title, but man has that title been used a lot), has the hero stealing a dog's correspondence in order to learn about the girl he's obsessed with. The more folktales-y stories feature a comical devil, who's more of a pesky imp than a lord or darkness.

I really liked the story "Christmas Eve", which contains the line "No one in Dikanka noticed that the devil had stolen the moon." There follows some farcical wanderings about in the snow and dark by the villagefolk. And of course somebody has to get the moon back. Good stuff.