Norwegian nutritionist and philosopher Jostein Gorder (b. 1952) is the author of a world bestseller, a history of philosophy in the form of the novel Sophia's World, which has been translated into 46 languages and brought the author a number of literary awards. Another book by Yu. Gorder is no less famous - the short novel “Vita Brevis”, which translated from Latin means “life is short”. This brilliant literary hoax is a letter allegedly written by the hand of Floria Emilia, the beloved of St. Augustine. A sincere and poignant story of love rejected for the sake of serving God and Truth, cannot leave the reader indifferent, no matter whose rightness he leans towards. The novel by the Norwegian writer J. Gordera's "Vita Brevis" ("Life is Short") is a letter to St. Augustine's beloved Floria Emilia, allegedly found by the author in a bookstore in Argentina. This poignant love story, written on behalf of an amazing woman, gained the author worldwide fame and was translated into many languages. The book is published in Russian for the first time.