Maxim Gorky (1868-1936) is one of Russia's most admired writers and playwrights, founding the socialist realism literary method and penning such classics as The Song of the Stormy Petrel - a thinly-veiled call to overthrow the tsar - and Children of the Sun, a play about the privileged intellectual elite of Russia. From 1931 until his death, Gorky lived in a fantastic Art Nouveau mansion in Moscow, which now houses the Gorky House Museum, dedicated to preserving mementos of the writer's life and work. Also known as the Ryabushinsky Mansion, the stunning building was completed in 1906 by architect Fyodor Shekhtel and features opulent columns, winding marble staircases, and intricate floral and mosaic stucco decorations - a surprising level of opulence for a proletarian writer. Gorky's furniture, artwork, and personal items are all on display, but most literary pilgrims make a beeline to his 12,000-volume library, which contains original works by some of Russia's most renowned authors. Pull up a chair, soak in the atmosphere, and return home inspired to write your own great masterpiece. The museum is convenient to three Starwood properties, the Hotel National, Moscow, the Sheraton Palace Hotel, Moscow, and Le Méridien Moscow Country Club.