Alexander Genis is a writer, cultural scientist, radio host, author of many books (“The Tower of Babel”, “Ivan Petrovich Died”, “Dovlatov and the Surroundings”, “Kolobok”, “Wrappers”, “The Kama Sutra of the Scribe”, etc.), including those written together with Pyotr Weil (“60s: the world of the Soviet man”, “Russian cuisine in exile”, “Native speech”, “Americana”). “Cosmopolitan” is the best travel prose by A. Genis, collected by him in one volume. Situated in the magical zone between essay and dream, history and geography, exoticism and everyday life, poetry and philosophy, these opuses help you to be at home everywhere. But for Genis, a cosmopolitan is not so much a citizen of the world as a tenant of the Tower of Babel and a subscriber to the Library of Alexandria. “Travel,” says Genis, “is an experience of self-discovery, physical movement with spiritual consequences. By integrating himself into the landscape, the author changes it forever.”