The Overcoat

Akaki Akakievich, a solitary, unworldly government clerk, is often mocked by his colleagues - not least on account of his pathetically threadbare overcoat, no longer a match for the St Petersburg climate. Economising to the point of austerity, Akaki has a new overcoat made, thus transforming his life. Then, one dark night, the unthinkable happens ...<br> <br> <br> <br> By turns wry, sad, tender and satirical, Gogol's greatest short work provided the template for an entirely new way of storytelling in the modern age.