The book continues the exploration begun by the author in "Union and Dovlatov. In Detail and Approximately." The turning point is Dovlatov's emigration to the USA.

The forty-year-old writer starts life anew. Literary connections, meetings, and complex relationships with Limonov, Aksyonov, and Voinovich. New texts and publications, the founding of the newspaper "The New American," setbacks, and returns to writing.