The new book by the famous Russian writer Mikhail Tarkovsky includes both the first published and his early little-known stories written at the turn of the century: “From the Heights” and “Nineteen Letters”, as well as the story “Condromo”, which, according to the author , became an attempt to reveal in artistic words the image of Yenisei Siberia, to show its beauty and mystery. The book opens with a new story “The Living Mile”. This autobiographical narrative seems to anticipate the subsequent content of the book. The action of “The Living Mile” begins in 1974 in Tuva, where the writer worked after the ninth grade on an anti-plague expedition, and where, at first glance at the Sayan Mountains, he remained forever fascinated by the Yenisei.