V etot sbornik voshli proizvedeniya Bulgakova, nosyashchiye avtobiograficheskiy kharakter, – ostroumnaya, ironichnaya povest' Zapiski na manzhetakh, posvyashchennaya skitaniyam po poslerevolyutsionnomu Kavkazu, slozhnym otnosheniyam s krasnoy vlast'yu i sobrat'yami po peru, mechtam ob emigratsii i pervym opytam v literature, i potryasayushchiye Zapiski yunogo vracha – pochti dokumental'nyye ocherki Bulgakova o svyatom i strashnom zhrebii sluzhitelya Gippokrata v nishchey, pochti srednevekovoy rossiyskoy provintsii nachala 1920-kh. V knigu vklyuchen i Morfiy – pugayushche otkrovennaya, muchitel'naya ispoved', posluzhivshaya osnovoy dlya odnoimennogo fil'ma Alekseya Balabanova. .