Is it possible to imagine our life without books? They have accompanied people everywhere for several thousand years. There are many interesting stories associated with them: a clever thief was betrayed by an owl who lived in the library; the boy wrote poems for an invented poet; a gambling collector burned a rare book; the famous writer passed off his own works as someone else’s; adventurers added Gogol and Moliere; the author of Robinson Crusoe interviewed the criminal, and Prosper Merimee fooled Pushkin. Some “book” stories are like real detective stories, others make you smile, but they all left a bright mark on history.