An anthology of critical essays that provide a wide range of information and opinion about the 1962 Russian novel "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich," and its author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

Foreword -- Introduction -- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn : a biography -- Characters and plot -- 1. Themes in One day -- Quest for truth, justice, and charity / Helene Zamoyska ; Moral choices and small victories / Steven Allaback ; Work as redemption / Olivier Clement ; One day, a modern epic / Robert Porter -- 2. Character of Ivan Denisovich Shukhov -- Shukhov is vital to understanding Solzhenitsyn / Edward E. Ericson Jr. ; Shukhov, the quintessential survivor / Terrence Des Pres ; Shukhov and his peasant virtues / Christopher Moody -- 3. One day : form and style -- Narrative style and plot structure / Richard Luplow ; Popular speech : toward simplicity and significance / Leonid Rzhevsky -- 4. Politics and One day -- One day's publication was a political decision / Zhores A. Medvedev ; Solzhenitsyn's prison experience / David Burg & George Feifer ; Readers' responses to One day / Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn ; Solzhenitsyn comments on his work / Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, interviewed by Nikita Struve.