The novella “We Live Here” was published in the journal “New World” in 1961 and was received favorably by critics.
Vladimir Voinovich: “When people ask me whether I consider myself exclusively a satirist, I always answer: no. I started as a realist. When I wrote ‘We Live Here,’ I showed the novella to an old writer. He said: this novella will be published, but after that, for what you write, they will beat you very badly. I ask: ‘Why?’ He says: ‘Because you write too much like real life.’”