About the book: 2011 / Alexander Furman's novel refers to the tradition of Russian psychological literature of the 19th century, when the "epics of human development" arose (“Childhood. Adolescence. Youth"). But “Furman’s Book” is not just an “educational novel.” This is a novel-testimony, a novel about the presence of a person “here and now”, inside his time. The reader will find in the book many recognizable realities of Soviet life during the stagnation period. There is not a single invented character in it, not a single composed episode. And most of her heroes act under real names. This enhances the feeling of authenticity of what is happening. Nevertheless, “Furman’s Book” is not a memoir. Its “ethnographic nature” is only a background for solving other problems. The writer observes his heroes with the harsh curiosity of a natural scientist, leaving them no opportunity to hide the most subtle and complex mental movements. “The Book of Furman” is a novel-research designed to understand a person in time and space. This is a book for connoisseurs of subtle psychologism and the play of language. The reader holds in his hands the first part of the “epic”, dedicated to the “preschool” childhood and the beginning of the hero’s school life.