About the book: 1971 / The heroes of this book are our contemporaries, people of different professions: scientists and workers, musicians and journalists, youth and those who are old enough to be their fathers. They manifest themselves in different, seemingly distant spheres, but nevertheless, the stories and short stories that make up the book are united by a single cross-cutting theme - a person’s responsibility to other people, to society, before himself for his life, for everything he has done and accomplished. The author deliberately dramatizes events, aggravates the situations in which he places his characters. It is in these most intense moments of their biography that life confronts them with questions that require an uncompromising answer, a determination of what to do.