“Sobakin, Mikhalkov, Voinovich, Danelia, Gorbachev—here they are, the architects of my life. I, of course, also made my own contribution, namely, work. I wrote twenty volumes, and no one could have done it for me. And yet: literary talent is very difficult to discover. The talent of a singer or an artist is easy. A person sings or draws—it’s immediately noticeable. And to write... Everyone can write, universal literacy since 1937. I might not have recognized my literary abilities. I would work as a singing teacher: vahadili gu-si... And so all my life. My purpose would die within me. I would have walked around nervous and unhappy. But I avoided this fate. I have always done what interests me. This is happiness. I won my life.”V. Tokarev