A prominent representative of the Russian literary avant-garde, Daniil Kharms belonged to a generation of Leningrad writers who entered the literary world in the second half of the 1920s. The complexities of Kharms's creative life have led to his current status as a children's writer and prose writer. However, he considered himself, first and foremost, a poet. His distinctive poetics have now received worldwide recognition. However, during his lifetime, only two of his "adult" poems were published.

The first volume includes Kharms's surviving poetic legacy, as well as his poetry translations. The volume opens with the section "Instead of an Autobiography," which includes the writer's diary, notebooks, and letters.

The second volume includes Kharms's prose, dramatic works, treatises and articles, and texts for children. The book opens with the section "Instead of a Biography," which includes the memoirs of Kharms's friends and his sister E.I. Gritsyna, and also reproduces the questionnaire filled out by Kharms in 1925 upon joining the All-Russian Union of Poets.