byAdam Thirlwell has a wonderful LRB review essay (25 June 2026; archived) of a book I keep meaning to read, Gorky’s Reminiscences of Tolstoy, Chekhov and Andreyev (the review is of the new translation by Bryan Karetnyk). The book was Maxim Gorky’s Reminiscences of Leo Nicolayevitch Tolstoi, from 1920, which the Woolfs would later republish in a fuller volume, with two more of Gorky’s reminiscences: of Chekhov and the less world-famous Leonid Andreyev. It seemed natural in this era to covet biographical intimacy, to devour lives and letters, and Gorky’s Reminiscences are especially intense. Here’s Tolstoy on Gorky:Whenever Gorky’s writing comes up, Tolstoy is dismayingly critical. So maybe this was why their conversations felt so intense: they were the testing lab for the writers’ new inventions.