The Duel and Other Stories

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian short story writer, playwright, and physician, considered to be one of the greatest short story writers in the history of world literature. His career as a dramatist produced four classics-The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard-and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics alike. Initially, Chekhov wrote stories solely for financial gain, but as his artistic ambition grew, he made formal innovations that have influenced the evolution of the modern short story. His originality consists in an early use of the stream-of-consciousness technique, later adopted by James Joyce and other modernists, combined with a disavowal of the moral finality of traditional story structure. He made no apologies for the difficulties this posed to readers, insisting that the role of an artist was to ask questions, not to answer them. Chekhov published over a hundred short stories, including "The Duel," "In Exile," "On Official Business," "The Bishop," and "The Cobbler and the Devil."

William Dufris began his audio career doing radio plays, audiobooks, film/animation dubbing, and language tapes in London, where he lived for thirteen years. While there, he had the honor of sharing the microphone in a number of BBC Radio plays with Kathleen Turner, Sharon Gless, Stockard Channing, and Helena Bonham-Carter. These experiences led him to cofound two audio production companies: The Story Circle Ltd. and Mind's Eye Productions. He has also acted on stage and television in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. William is the original voice of Bob (and Farmer Pickles/Mr. Beasley/Mr. Sabatini) in the popular children's show Bob the Builder for the United States and Canada (Series 1-9). He produces, directs, acts and engineers for his audio theatre company, Rocky Coast Radio Theatre. He has been nominated nine times as a finalist for the APA's prestigious Audie Award and has garnered twenty-one Earphones Awards from AudioFile magazine, which also named him one of the Best Voices at the End of the Century, as well as one of the Best Voices of the Year in 2008 and 2009.