"Oh, good God," he kept saying with great relish. "Good God..."

''Gooseberries'' is accompanied here by ''The Kiss'' and ''The Two Volodyas'' - three exquisite depictions of love and loss in nineteenth-century Russia by Chekhov, the great master of the short story form.

Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin''s 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions.

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904). Chekhov''s works available in Penguin Classics are The Steppe and Other Stories, Ward No. 6 and Other Stories, The Lady with the Little Dog and Other Stories, The Shooting Party, Plays and A Life in Letters.