About the book: 1959 / Autobiographical novel, which critics unanimously compare with Andrei Bely's "Silver Dove". Chronicle novel? Fairy tale novel? Is the novel a harbinger of magical realism? It's simple: a boy grows up, and quite everyday events in life are clothed in his rich imagination in a fairy-tale form. Ordinary stories become strange, children's adventures take on truly legendary proportions - and the taste of humor again and again prevails over the fairy-tale surroundings of a fascinating novel..