Sergei Dovlatov's literary destiny was determined, in his own words, by three cities: Leningrad, Tallinn, and New York. In the first, he condemned himself to a life as a writer; in the second, he hoped to establish himself as a writer; in the third, he achieved recognition, which brought his books back to his native shores like a wave.
All three cities are an inexhaustible source of stories that weave the life of their author, an extraordinary creator who, with artistic brilliance, recounted our everyday, yet absurdly charged, existence.
Friends remained in each of these cities, for whom Sergei Dovlatov's talent seemed undeniable from the day they met—at a time when he was still little known. Their thoughts and memories of their departed friend are important for those who read Dovlatov's prose, which has become classic before our eyes.
Three different cities, three different, aesthetically disparate, yet ethically close writers—Andrei Ariev, Elena Skulskaya, and Alexander Genis—come together under one cover to capture the three-dimensional image of Sergei Dovlatov on the map of Russian literature.