Dmitry Naumov's prose is original, bright and immediately easily distinguishable from all other authors. Naumov has a special intellectual and “dense” writing style, rich in information, allegories and associations. However, all this does not overload the text at all, but, on the contrary, fits into it very organically. The reason for this is the author’s sparkling humor and gentle irony, which sometimes turns into self-irony. Therefore, Naumov is fascinating and easy to read. This primarily concerns his “Notes of a Traveler.” When reading them, you involuntarily get the impression that you and the author are already old friends, and you are almost really traveling together through countries and villages, together marveling at a previously unknown world and enjoying the common fun little discoveries. I think that the reader will also appreciate Naumov’s story “In the Beginning Was word”, dedicated to the educational trip of two friends to Torzhok. Here Dmitry Naumov appears before us as a serious Russian writer with a deep understanding of the Motherland, its unique nature, its destiny. Reading the story, you involuntarily envy its heroes, who managed to rise above the endless bustle of the metropolis, board the first train they came across, and go to provincial Torzhok to breathe deeply the air of the real fatherland, and not of urbanized Russia. Member of the Union of Writers of Russia V. Shigin