The book tells about the rapid development at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries of "light genres" (verse, humorous story, chansonette, gypsy romance, etc.), that is, about the formation of the Russian pre-revolutionary stage. Outstanding artists who left a mark on Russian culture, such as E. M. Granovskaya, A. D. Davydov, Anastasia Vyaltseva, Natalia Tamara, Nadezhda Plevitskaya, Yuri Morfessi and many others, are briefly described.