If we were to define the genre of Volodymyr Voynovich's new novel, then it can be called a "bomb novel", because immediately after its publication it will surely explode. After all, the writer talks about things in the Russian environment that people prefer to keep silent about - who would want to openly admit their mistakes and flaws, confess to the absurd system of Russian life?...And it all starts with the fact that the author, on whose behalf the story is told, bitten by a tick. It is not possible to pull him out at home, and therefore the victim is taken to the hospital in an "ambulance" carriage. On the way, various adventures happen to him, and when he begins to dream, various visions appear before his eyes. And all these adventures and visions are connected with the Russian system. Yes, it turns out that the country is ruled by the First Person of the State, Peroder for short, who looks like... a crimson pelican. Why? After the annexation of Crimea, it turns out that the Ukrainian junta not only oppressed the population, it drove a rare species of bird - crimson pelicans - to almost complete extinction. The last pair of pelicans has learned how to incubate eggs. And in Russia there is only one person who can help them by a personal example... And in order to please Peroder, all his subordinates also take on the appearance of pelicans, making beaks for themselves - either from cardboard or from another material...