The principle of an ordinary miracle is the basis of Shefner’s writing (it’s not for nothing that Shefner and Schwartz begin with the same letter). And - the simplicity of his modest geniuses, who do not really think about what miracle they came up with (for them, this is an everyday matter); The main thing is that this miracle brings joy to at least someone. And - the “complexity” of his other characters, those who perform practical miracles: tetrahedral bicycle spokes, soap called “Don’t Steal,” filled from the inside with a black liquid that marks the thief. And... Many of these “ands” are the essence of an amazing phenomenon named Vadim Shefner. The master wrote a lot. The achingly sad, wonderful “Sister of Sorrow.” More than two dozen books of poetry. But what he was best at was stories about eccentric people, where fantasy was so closely intertwined with reality that it was difficult to determine the genre to which these works should be classified. Here, if we compare (although any comparison is evil), Shefner can be placed next to Gabriel García Márquez, the father of what was called “magical realism” in literature. Only not on Latin American, but Russian soil. The collection includes the best of what the writer created in this genre.