Among Russian humanities scholars there is, perhaps, no one who could compete with Mikhail Bakhtin (1895–1975) in terms of worldwide fame. His books about Rabelais and Dostoevsky have been translated into many languages and are still actively published. Moreover, the entire “Bakhtin industry” functions successfully and smoothly, combining both the usual forms of cultural transmission of scientific ideas and features reminiscent of the creation and maintenance of a mythologized cult. Even those people who have never read Bakhtin’s works regularly use the terms contained in them (“dialogue”, “carnival”, “chronotope”, “laughter culture”, “polyphonic novel”). Alexey Korovashko’s book not only reconstructs in detail Bakhtin’s biography, extremely rich in adventurous plots, riddles and hoaxes, but also offers a new look at the philosophical and literary concept of the scientist. sign of information products 16+