This book contains the best fantasy stories and stories of the St. Petersburg prose writer Alexander Zhitinsky, in whose work the late Soviet world with its complexity, tension, stormy forebodings and great hopes was most fully reflected. This world no longer exists, it has fallen apart. But there remain poetic, funny and whimsical fairy tales that have been read for four generations now.D. BykovB. Strugatsky's extraordinary imagination and innate sense of humor initially brought Alexander Zhitinsky to the forefront of Russian science fiction. Imagination, humor and a clear understanding of the essence of fiction as literature about human destinies in the familiar real world, changed by the presence of a Miracle - without these qualities no writer can succeed. patience, hard work and willingness to sacrifice the secondary in the name of the main thing, which gave him the opportunity to delight thousands and thousands of qualified readers who are able to appreciate humor, flight of imagination, and impeccable ability to find the exact words.

Z. Prilepin Zhitinsky belongs to that rare type of writer whose irony is creative. In Russia, no one seemed to compare him with Mark Twain, but for me these names always somehow rhymed. Whether Zhitinsky was minor or major, at all times he wrote in such a way that it was a justification of the world, and not settling scores with people, the country, or, God forgive me, society. When he makes you laugh, it’s truly delightfully funny, and when he talks about something important, that’s, yes, the most important thing. It’s strange: such great times have changed, but you put yourself in those landscapes and landscapes that Zhitinsky created, and again your heart feels warm and comfortable , and good.

Contents A little fine literature. Alexander Zhitinsky .... 3From the collection “CHILDREN OF THE EPOCH” Verb “engineer” 7Hay-straw 70Brumma effect 117From the collection “DREAMING”Dreaming 151Grandson of Dr. Bormenthal 237Ask your souls 287From the collection “WATCHES WITH OPTIONS”Watches with options 399Arsik 492B yesterday, today, the day before yesterday 537From collection "SHIFTMAN" Recommendation 599 It's time for snowfall 620 Playing dog 632 Gift 639 Yellow horses 646 Eiffel Tower 653 Japanese god! 662Elegy of Massenet 677Ashes 694High Jump 715Switchman 724From the publisher. Dmitry Bykov 728

PS: The absence of commas after “well” is not the blindness of the bookmaker, but a feature of the paper edition, no need to edit. No need to edit