The Chorus Girl and Other Stories is a collection of 11 short stories and My Life, one of Chekhov’s five novellas.   Nine of the stories were written in 1886 and 1887 when Chekhov was in his twenties. “At a Country House” and “Rothschild’s Fiddle” were written in 1894 and “My Life” was published in 1896.  Three of these stories – “The Chorus Girl”, “Rothschild’s Fiddle”, and “A Gentleman Friend” - are consistently ranked among the Chekhov’s best. Throughout we see Chekhov’s ability to quickly set the scene, sketch portraits of the characters, and set events in their natural motions. Often a character has a change of heart or circumstances that lead to a surprise twist.  One imagines that Chekhov’s training as a physician is put to good use in the service of literature, as he proceeds to diagnose the ailments of character and dissect the anatomy of human relationships with a the deft hand of a surgeon.