The Chimes, written in Genoa, Italy, is the second of Dickens' Christmas stories in which he attempts to convince the upper classes to have compassion for the poor. Taking place on New Year's Eve, a poor man named Trotty begins to despair about...
A Madman's Manuscript was probably written as a short story for independent publication, but was incorporated into Pickwick Papers as part of chapter 11. Later editors include it in collections of ghost stories.
Narrated in first person, the story...