A. Chervinsky is a famous playwright, author of scripts for such famous films as “The Crown of the Russian Empire, or the Elusive Again,” “Afghan Break” and many others. In this novel, originally conceived as a film script, strange and very interesting things happen. But the most interesting thing is that in the process of reading we are not left with the feeling that the events described are already known to us, that they have already happened in reality with one very famous family in Russia. At times the author seems merciless towards his heroes, but he acts harshly only because pity prevents him from respecting equals. “Shishkin Les” is the story of four generations of the Nikolkin family, in many ways transparently coinciding with the story of another family known throughout Russia. The action-packed plot keeps the reader in constant suspense, the drama is full of unexpected twists, the characters and collisions evoke a desire to empathize that is rare these days. Truly, this is the most Russian novel in our literature in recent times, even though its author lives in New York.