Heart of a Dog

Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940) was a famous Russian writer and playwright whose works were variously popular and banned in the Soviet Union. Bulgakov was born into an educated, creative family in Russian Kiev, which is now Ukraine. As a young person, Bulgakov enjoyed the theater, especially Faust by Charles Gounod; the Faustian theme figures prominently in The Heart of a Dog. During World War I, Bulgakov worked as a doctor in a field hospital run by his mother. He would later fictionalize his experiences as a doctor in his collection of short stories, A Young Doctor’s Notebook. His interest in medicine and its possibilities also shapes the plot of The Heart of a Dog.

In 1920, Bulgakov left medicine to pursue a career as a writer. In 1921, he moved to Moscow to further his writing career. He earned a living writing feuilletons, popular serialized fictions, and as a freelance journalist. In 1925, Bulgakov began to achieve commercial creative success when his unfinished and highly autobiographical serial work The White Guard was adapted into a play at the Moscow Art Theatre. The play was a favorite of Stalin. However, Bulgakov often ran afoul of Soviet censorship panels. For instance, his play Flight (1928) was banned for glorifying White Army (anti-Bolshevik) generals.