How I Learned

The story is based on the speech Maxim Gorky delivered on May 28, 1918, in Petrograd at a rally at the society “Culture and Freedom.” The speech began with the words: “I will tell you, citizens, what books gave to my mind and feeling. I learned to read consciously when I was about fourteen...” Several times, the work was reissued under the title “How I Learned,” with the omission of the first sentence and a few small additions at the end of the story.

In 1922, Gorky significantly expanded the story for a separate edition.