Thank you for your interest in my book. This book consists of two parts. The first part includes lyric poetry written by the author over the past three years. The majority of poems are romantic lyrics, written in the traditional Russian poetic style of the beginning of the 19th century. The second part consists of a theatrical play of the life of so-called “new Russians.” Katya is a young woman, a former actress, living on the capital accounts of her deceased father, who belonged to the Russian mafia. She lives according to the same laws as her father did. Katya uses her acting skills in real life in her relationships with family, friends and simple acquaintances alike. She wants everyone to take her not as she actually is, but as she herself would like to be. Exposure of her game by the doctor who used to treat her family and knew her father does not embarrass her in the least. She is certain that nothing can shake the foundations of the new life in Russia. My play is based on the works of Anton Chekhov. Re-reading Chekhov, I became convinced that the same problems that afflicted Russian society at the beginning of last century, such as corruption and the disregard for human rights persist to this very day. This gave me the idea for writing the play. I transferred the action of the play onto our time from the beginning of last century. I have used material from twenty of Chekhov’s works to compose a single new play. I am sure that Anton Pavlovich would have written something similar were he to live in our era.

Acknowledgements
The theatrical play was written in 1996. It is a contemporary comedy about so-called New Russians, but with traditional elements. That my play reached the semifinal of a playwriting competition at the College of Arts and Sciences at University of Oregon, as well as the positive responses from several theaters have bolstered my wish to publish this play. I am very grateful to these people.