This book includes articles of various genres—reviews, essays, surveys, and feuilletons. Published in diverse outlets, they were written either by commission or for other reasons, whether routine or scandalous. This is an interim summary of work in an intermediate field.

In the Russian tradition, this is called journalism; in modern theory, it is the realm of the public sphere, a leading mechanism of civil society. Most of the articles in this book discuss Russian literature and history, but also touch on philosophy, psychology, and politics.

The articles do not belong to a single genre and do not form a unified narrative. They mark a path that, in retrospect, seems more coherent than it did at the time these steps were taken. To some extent, these articles reflect notable events in the intellectual history of the past decade. (A. Etkind)