The names of the geniuses of Russian literature Ivan Bunin and Vladimir Nabokov are connected for us by language and era, the scale of talent, life and work in exile. But there is another, personal connection between these writers. In a new book by Russian-American writer Maxim D. Schrayer, the fascinating plot of the long-term and complex relationship between Bunin and Nabokov unfolds against the backdrop of the history of Russian emigration from the 1920s to the 1970s. How are literary legends formed? What was behind the rivalry between two geniuses, and how did this rivalry influence modern Russian culture? This bright book, unique in its approach, reveals entire layers of unknown archival materials, including correspondence between Bunin and Nabokov. A thorough analysis of painstakingly selected letters and diary entries, reasoned but unobtrusive conclusions, the internal dramaturgy of the material and masterful mastery of it - all this gives the book the qualities of good literature, fascinating for any reader.