The essence of the genre in which this book is written is not easy to determine. The author built the events of his life - both significant and seemingly insignificant, but in fact turned out to be the most important - according to Russian poems of the 20th century: those that once had and continue to influence him, “become participants in dramatic or comic episodes of life , amaze, delight, teach." That is, according to the author, they contact him directly. Hence the principle in the title of the book for compiling this amazing anthology: “Poems about me.”