What is honour, my dear, when you have nothing to eat?" As both a masterpiece of Russian populist writing and a parody of the entire genre, Poor People is an early example of Dostoevsky's genius. Written as a series of letters, Poor People tells the tragic tale of a petty clerk and his impossible love for a young girl. Longing to help her and her family, he sells everything he can, but his kindness leads him only into more desperate poverty, and ultimately into debauchery. As a typical "man of the underground," he serves as the embodiment of the belief that happiness can only be achieved with riches. Theirs is a troubled, frustrated love that can only lead to sorrow. Poor People is Dostoevsky's first original work and offers, "tantalizing glimpses of the mature artist who would profoundly influence much of what was to follow him throughout the literary world." - Charlotte Hobson in the Introduction.