Russian writer, critic and historian of literature Lidiia Iakovlevna Ginzburg (1902-1990) started as an avant gardist, and lived through the crisis of this esthetic along with other Russian artists. Her notebooks and diaries are one of the best reports about this period in Russian art and its legacy. The current book is the history of her professional life, her circle and their ideas. Bibliography. Name index. Appendix. Also available by l. Ginzburg: Prokhodiashchie Kharaktery: Proza Voennykh Let. Zapiski Blokadnogo Cheloveka (2011).