With an impeccable sense of humor and subtle knowledge of human psychology, Fazil Iskander talks about the world of childhood, the formation of a child’s character in the famous story “The School Waltz, or the Energy of Shame.” Describes the society and customs of Soviet, post-Soviet and modern Russia. The collection includes chapters from the story “The Station of Man,” stories telling about the peculiarities of the psychology of Soviet and Russian people, including in Stalin times, and social works about the post-perestroika period, revealing the most important problem of Russian society: the loss of the plot of the existence of the country itself. Reflections , sometimes lyrical in tone, about modern Russia are intertwined with sharp satire on the morals of the post-perestroika era, full of worries about the fate of the Russian land. The book ends with a philosophical dialogue between God and the devil about human nature.