A DESPERATE CHARACTER AND OTHER TALES is a collection of Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev's stories that spans his career. The six tales were written between 1847 and 1881. "Pyetushkov" (1847), "The Brigadier" (1867), "A Strange Story" (1869), "Punin and Baburin" (1874), "Old Portraits" (1881), and "A Desperate Character" (1881) are a showcase of the classic Russian stylist's work and a study in Russian lyrical fatalism, idealism, and a struggle with issues of will and aspirations.

Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright. His first major publication, a short story collection entitled A Sportsman's Sketches (1852), was a milestone of Russian Realism, and his novel Fathers and Sons (1862) is regarded as one of the major works of 19th-century fiction.