In one of his books, Alexander Etoev said about the city in which he was born: “Living almost forever in it, I changed so many districts, streets, houses, apartments that the whole city became my eternal home. Wherever I go, on whatever bench in any park or garden I sit, everywhere poplars, garden trellises, fountains, trash cans and even lanterns smile at me, they feel in me their own, local, post-war Leningrader, they remember me as a boy, they know that this is not will draw a swastika or a swear word in the gateway or on the wall of the house.” Hence the second title of the book - “Petersburg Tales”, may Gogol forgive the author for such blatant theft. Someone will probably ask: what does Egypt have to do with it, what is it doing on the cover? Yes, despite the fact that in those times about which the writer talks, “a tram went to Egypt - it climbed onto the Egyptian Bridge, hesitated a little and fell through the pyramid houses”... The collection includes stories and stories united by the St. Petersburg theme.