The book includes the story "An Episode from the Life of Neither a Pava nor a Crow (Diary of a Home Teacher)," which reflected the specific phenomena of Russian life and social struggle in the second half of the 19th century. In the story "Career," a young raznochinets Pyotr Andreevich is looking for his place in life after graduating from high school. In the story "On the Eve of Liquidation," the author shows the spiritual limitations of the landowners of the Poputnovs, their inability to adapt to new living conditions in post-reform Russia, the pattern of their displacement by Putygin's fist.