This is an unusual book, like all the works of Vladimir Orlov. His works have been translated into many languages of the world and are rightfully included in the annals of modern world literature. Here are collected both new stories “The Best Pre-War Mustache”, where real events of the past century are visible behind the author’s lines, and “Patches of optional explanations, or Piggy is smiling” - a kind of chronicle of life, as well as those that were published earlier, for example “Something rang ”, which opened Orlov’s phantasmagoric triptych “Violist Danilov”, “Pharmacist” and “Shevrikuka, or Love for a Ghost”. A large section of the collection consists of essays about the amazing contemporary artists Natalya Nesterova and Tatyana Nazarenko, and much more. For the first time, interviews with Vladimir Orlov, which he gave to journalists from leading domestic publications, are published. The reader will find interesting facts about the life and work of the author in the section “Around Orlov” next to the fundamental stylistic study of Lev Skvortsov.