“Dystopia” is a unique author’s anthology collected by Vladimir Makanin from his own texts, created in different periods of his creative work and united by the theme of the fate of man in a totalitarian society hostile to him. In the stories and tales of the anthology, Makanin appears as a conventional realist - in the manner of Viktor Pelevin, looking beyond the edge of reality - like an ancient traveler beyond the edge of the map in search of new lands. Not fantasy, but not fact of life either. It’s as if they opened a window into a dark night and the frightening cold of the otherworldly penetrated under the skin. The names of Zamyatin and Platonov, Orwell, Huxley and Ballard immediately appear in the memory when reading “Dystopia”. And, of course, the names of Petrushevskaya, Tolstoy and Kabakov - when it comes to Makanin’s contemporaries. This unusual genre book - not typical for Makanin - opens up a new facet of the famous writer’s talent.