Nina Voronel was lucky - she always found herself in the right place at the right time. Or maybe she just has such a keen eye and a sharp tongue that every place and time she describes begins to seem necessary and important. Part of this book was published in 2003 by the Zakharov publishing house under the title “Without Embellishment” and caused a scandal that continues to this day. The scandal was a foregone conclusion even before the book was published, when one of its chapters - about Sinyavsky and Daniel - was published in Voprosy literatury. Voronel portrays the idols of a bygone era as people filled with diverse passions, as people should be. Three qualities distinguish the narrator: fearless frankness, psychological insight and a passion for solving mysteries. Hence the resounding success of the book. The main thing about it is the “attraction of the text”, unearthly magnetism, when a thick volume is read in one breath. That’s what Vasily Aksenov wrote to Nina: “Thank you for the book... It’s hard for a reader like me to put it down... You managed to write a light book, full of humor and air, about our time...”