The collection includes two books of memoirs by the outstanding Russian composer Nikolai Nikolaevich Karetnikov (1930-1994): "Themes with Variations" (1990) and "Readiness for Being" (1992). According to the author, the people with whom he communicated and the events in which he participated seemed to him "important and even necessary for the phenomenology of time." The heroes of N. N. Karetnikov's autobiographical novels were M. V. Yudina, V. Ya. Shebalin, G. G. Neuhaus, Ya. B. Zeldovich, A. A. Galich, A. G. Gabrichevsky, D. D. Shostakovich, A.D. Sakharov, father Alexander Men and many, many others.

N. N. Karetnikov is one of the brightest representatives of the post—war avant-garde and at the same time an original continuator of the tradition of Orthodox sacred music. His compositions were performed extremely rarely, he was known mainly as a film and theater composer. Among the most famous films and performances are "A Nasty Joke" (1965) and "Running" (1970) by A. Alov and V. Naumov; "Goodbye, Zamoskvoretskaya punks..." by A. Pankratov (1987); "Ten Days that Shook the World" (1965, Taganka Theater) by Yu. Lyubimov; "Tevye-Milkman" (1985, Central Television) S. Yevlakhashvili.

The collection contains many photos from the composer's archive.

Foreword by Olga Sedakova.

The book was published with the support of the Nikolai Karetnikov Foundation. The Foundation and the heirs of Nikolai Karetnikov thank Ilya Danishevsky for his help in preparing the publication.