Description: Combines shame studies and literary criticism to uncover new perspectives on Dostoevsky as writer and psychologist, with his lying characters as case studies.
Review Quotes: "This pathbreaking book brings together two separate areas of discourse--the branch of psychology that focuses on shame and literary criticism. Deborah Martinsen's overall purpose is to demonstrate the profound understanding Dostoevsky had of the implications of shame for his characters, for the plots of his novel, for contemporary Russian culture, and, above all, for his readers. The entire book literally brims with original readings and exciting connections among things hitherto unconnected. Surprised by Shame places Martinsen at the front rank of Dostoevsky scholarship." --Robin Feuer Miller, Brandeis University