The Gambler is a short literature & fiction novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky about a young tutor in the employment of a former wealthy Russian general. The first-person narrative is classic world literature told from the point of view of Alexei Ivanovich, a tutor working for a Russian family living in a suite at a German hotel. The patriarch of the family, The General, is indebted to the Frenchman de Criet and has mortgaged his property in Russia to pay only a small amount of his debt. Upon learning of the illness of his wealthy aunt, "Grandmother", he sends streams of telegrams to Moscow and awaits the news of her demise. His expected inheritance will pay his debts and gain Mademoiselle Blanche de Cominges's hand in Marriage. The Gambler, originally was a regional & cultural best seller which has garnered international success, it reflects Fyodor Dostoyevsky's own addiction to roulette, which was in more ways than one the inspiration for the book. It is believed that Fyodor Dostoyevsky completed the novella under a strict deadline to pay off gambling debts. The Gambler was first published in 1867, it is a world literature & fiction classic which has stood the test of time.