Even those who have never read this book know the quotes taken from it. For more than one decade, they have been passed from mouth to mouth without losing their relevance.
The story begins with the mother-in-law telling her beloved son-in-law on her deathbed about treasures hidden in one of the twelve chairs of a walnut suite. As in any classic tale about a treasure, many people are not just one; and the real hunt begins. However, unlike the classics, the treasure-hunter adventures in this work are less dangerous and thrilling than satirical. Set against the backdrop of Soviet reality, the events look both comical and realistic.
One cannot fail to give credit to the main hero, Ostap Bender, whom the authors endowed with a sharp mind, ingenuity, and enterprise. This man can turn almost any situation to his advantage. He never loses heart and is the driving force behind the entire novel. His opposite is Kisa Vorobyaninov, a miserable type whose secret was revealed to him by the dying old woman. The contrasting duo of these two characters forms the core of the novel.
After the eleven chairs were checked and turned out to be empty, there remains the twelfth chair, in which the heroes expect to find the long-awaited prize. It would seem they have reached their goal, but everything turns out differently…