Moscow writer Andrei Salomatov is known to readers primarily for his works that lie on the verge of absurdist prose and fantasy. The stories included in this collection are united by a certain surreal space in which the heroes of the works are forced to exist. As a rule, these are ordinary people who have fallen into one of the traps of fate, of which there are many placed along the life path of every person. As the philosopher Spinoza wrote: “God is neither good nor just, but expedient.” To one degree or another, this idea runs through all the author’s works.