About the book: 2015 / One of the key features of modern postmodern literature is phantasmagorism. Wanting to reveal the essence of an object or phenomenon, the author presents them to the reader in an exaggerated, incredible, absurd form. New fantastic worlds are formed from familiar realities, plunging the contemplator deeper into the idea of ​​the creator of the work. You can find many such examples in modern Russian literature. One of them is Anatoly Subbotin’s book “Madonna and the Pigs.” The collection includes stories from different years, including “Old Men”, “The Last Voyage of Sinbad”, “New Year’s Gift”, “Angel” and others. In these short but capacious stories, the author interweaves dreams and reality, piles the incredible and the absurd on familiar events, emotions and feelings. The characters are stuck in a chaos of meanings, and they are completely happy with it. What seems simply impossible to the average person, for the heroes of the stories is a familiar life. This only intensifies the fantasy effect, allowing you to look at everyday life from an unexpected angle and, perhaps, find answers to questions that have long been troubling the reader..