The life of I. A. Goncharov, one of the creators of the classic Russian novel, the author of the famous novel triptych—“An Ordinary Story,” “Oblomov,” “The Precipice”—spans nearly eight decades of the last century. The writer was destined to become an eyewitness and researcher of Russia’s process of capitalist development, a biased witness to the rise of democratic and revolutionary sentiments in the country. The published biography recreates the complex, contradictory path of I. A. Goncharov’s social and moral searches. It makes extensive use of the writer’s epistolary heritage and materials from the archives.