Tolstoy's "Master and Man" and a Cocktail with Pam Newton

This reading group has reached its capacity. To join the waitlist, please email Sebastian Mazza at [email protected].

The registration fee includes a signature cocktail, house beer or wine, coffee, or soft drink from our Café & Bar. Gratuity is happily accepted on the night of the event.

---

Tolstoy wrote his brilliant short story, “Master and Man,” in 1895. It tells the tale of a landowner and a peasant setting out on a journey by horse-and-sleigh and becoming lost in a brutal snowstorm. The power of the story lies not only in the gripping and harrowing narrative, so richly imagined by Tolstoy, but also in its spiritual exploration of basic human goodness and redemption.

Join us for a discussion of this quintessential winter story—a testament both to Tolstoy’s genius and to the heights achieved by the short story form in 19th-century Russia. While we read of Vasili and Nikita’s struggle in the cold, we can keep ourselves warm with a cocktail, courtesy of the Center for Fiction Café & Bar.

A PDF of the story will be emailed to registrants. It is also available in Great Short Works of Leo Tolstoy, translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude.

What to expect from this reading group: This will be more of a conversation than a lecture, but the instructor will be on hand to provide some context and guide the exploration of the story.