The articles of the famous publicist, poet, and prose writer Dmitry Bykov invariably evoke criticism from both the right and the left - and increase the circulation of the publications in which he is published. Regardless of the political and aesthetic situation, he, being a bearer of common sense, calls white white and black black, no matter what other authorities of taste say about this. What is collected in this book is the best that Bykov wrote about Russian literature and cinema , politics, media, social debates of the 20th century. Before us is the author's encyclopedia of Russian life, written by a brilliantly talented person.