A fairy tale is not a genre, a fairy tale is a state of mind. A fairy tale-Grimm, a fairy tale-Hauff, a fairy tale-Andersen... A fairy tale-Popov - from this series? Of course not. Here, rather, there is a fairy tale-Dovlatov, a fairy tale-Shukshin, and also a fairy tale-Sei-Syonagon, a fairy tale-Olesha... This is not a fairy tale, but telling, telling as questioning, as amazement and as despair. A fairy tale is like a note on the margins of life, eternally sorrowful, bitter, magical... These “fairy tales” are for adults because they were created for survival, to preserve their souls in an adult, murderous world. And fairy tales - because their despair is not a mortal sin, but a path to the Light. Even when the author himself almost doesn’t believe in this future Light.