The novel by Anatoly Polotno, a well-known chansonnier performer, author of songs, poet, and composer, can be roughly classified as a saga—an account of the struggle of good against evil in our recent pre- and post-Perestroika past. “Beyond the Limits” is a story stretched across time—from the late 1970s to the present day—based on the viewpoint of a contemporary on eternal values and their opposites: love and hate, truth and lies, kindness and treachery, life and death.
“…A bright artist, the author and performer of his own songs, so loved by people across our entire country, decided to write a book! And it is not an autobiography, not a story about his life and work… It is a novel about people, their love, their joys and problems, their failures and victories. How astonishingly convenient the language is! The plot lines are logical, and the images are sometimes simple, but they are described in such a distinctive way that it doesn’t let you get distracted—it makes you read and follow the turns of the heroes’ fates. These images are drawn very precisely and thoroughly. Their authenticity leaves no doubt. Good, solid Russian—something you hardly ever find today…” Mikhail Shufutinsky