Chronicles of this kind appear in Russian literature once every century. The writer takes responsibility for time and, putting together what happened to each of his contemporaries, combining personal experience with historical, creates an epic canvas that preserves all the details, but gives them a general meaning and intelligibility. We were all waiting for a book that would explain what happened to the world and to us, and at the same time proved that what happened is an artistic theme, that chaos can take shape in the artistic image of an era. Now there is such a book. This is a novel by Maxim Kantor "Drawing Textbook". This book contains a historical chronicle written by one of the characters. The writer of the chronicle grouped facts and characterized events and people based on his preferences - accordingly, this text cannot be considered as a document.