“Truth and falsehood, like in the coils of a python, were intertwined in that time, in those people that I had the opportunity to meet and get to know. The rings were cut into pieces, the python died, and was eaten by vultures. But it turned out that coexisting with vultures is even more sickening..." The memoirs of Nadezhda Kozhevnikova, the daughter of the famous Soviet prose writer Vadim Kozhevnikov, are densely populated by many people who today would be called the elite: Oleg Efremov, Evgeny Mravinsky, Andrei Mironov, Alexander Chakovsky, Heinrich Neuhaus... However, dozens of “ordinary” people who the author met on Lavrushinsky Lane, in Switzerland or America also live and act in the book.

Nadezhda Kozhevnikova has not only a keen eye, but also a tongue. Once upon a time, the prototype of the main character complained to the Central Committee about her story “Elena the Beautiful”. There will probably be people who want to complain somewhere after reading this book...