The author of this book, after graduating from the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University in the early 60s of the last century, worked in the State Committee of the USSR Council of Ministers for Cinematography, in the magazines “Family and School”, “Krugozor” and “RT Programs”. In 1967, he was invited to the Russian literature department of Literaturnaya Gazeta, where he worked for 27 years. In this book, where the author captured the milestones of his biography for almost forty years, the reader will meet many famous and well-known people in the literary world, will feel the spirit of not only the stagnant or perestroika times, but also the present: although there is a very specific date under the narrative, the author is in the footnotes comments on the events that happened after. Addressed to the general reader, the book is intended primarily for those who like to read memoir literature, in this case outlining the literary life of the era.