The new book by the famous writer, master of non-fiction Alexander Genis includes the philological novel “Dovlatov and the Surroundings” and a double-expanded collection of literary portraits “A Special Case”. “Dovlatov and the Surroundings” is not only a fascinating story about its main character Sergei Dovlatov (the author’s friend and colleague), but also an original manifesto of a new literature, of which this book became an example. “A Special Case” collected intimate samples of philological prose, which Genis called “a photograph of the soul located between the body and the text.”