About the book: 2010 / "When compiling the volume, I proceeded from the following simple consideration. For me, “Odessa humor” is a very broad concept. This, so to speak, is any decent level of humor associated with Odessa. First of all, of course, these are the works of authors born in it. Moreover, regardless of what they wrote about and where literary fame came to them. Then these are not Odessa residents, but those who lived for a long time in Odessa and whose literary activity began here. Further, these are people who did not have any Odessa roots, but wrote talentedly and cheerfully about Odessa and Odessa residents. And finally, I take the liberty of asserting that “Odessa humor” can also include texts by nonresident authors who first saw the light on the pages of Odessa publications (the case of “Crocodile” at the beginning of the century and “Fontana” at the end). The main thing is that in all these texts, as I hope, there is what I call the Odessa component - lively intonation, paradoxicality and at the same time a special ease of expression" (V. Khait).