In his brilliant essay “The Apotheosis of a Mask,” Vladimir Nabokov called Gogol’s work “a grotesque and grim nightmare making black holes in the dim pattern of life.” Reading Gogol’s masterpieces, from his earlier Romantic tales to fantastic Petersburg tales, from his eminent comedy An Inspector General to his mysterious novel/poem Dead Souls, students will learn to distinguish the writer’s life and artistic strategies. We will explore Gogol’s work within the broad literary and cultural contexts of his time. Counts as a course in literature.