About the book: 2017 / In his new book, the famous music journalist, producer and writer Alexander Kushnir explores the biography of Ilya Kormiltsev - poet, translator, publisher, public figure, author of many hits by the groups “Nautilus Pompilius”, “Nastya” and “Urfin Jus”, which formed the “golden fund” of Russian rock. This is both a fictionalized biography and a photo album dedicated to the memory of a great man. The book reproduces for the first time hundreds of rare photographs found in the archives of the Kormiltsev family, Ilya’s friends and colleagues, and in the vaults of cult rock photographers. The textual texture of the book is based on modern folklore - hundreds of exclusive interviews taken over five years from musicians, friends, relatives, poets, writers, politicians and cultural experts. Alexander Kushnir was personally acquainted with Ilya Kormiltsev, interviewed him several times and collaborated on various projects. This publication is part of a series of books by Kushnir dedicated to the “life of prohibited people.” The story about Kormiltsev continues the study of the destinies of underrated geniuses of the domestic underground, begun in the book about Sergei Kuryokhin “The Crazy Mechanics of Russian Rock”, which received the Steppenwolf Award in the category “Best Rock Book of 2014”».