Vseshuteyshiy sobor. Smekhovaya kul'tura carskoy Rossii

V etoy knige istorik i kul'turolog Lev Berdnikov rasskazyvaet o fenomene russkogo shutovstva. Galereyu personazhey otkryvaet «Krovavyy Skomoroh» Ivan Groznyy, pervym dogadavshiysya ispol'zovat' smekh kak orudie dlya bor'by s neugodnymi i inakomyslyashchimi. Osoboe vnimanie udelyaetsya XVIII veku - avtor znakomit chitatelya s istoriey sozdaniya Petrom I legendarnogo Vseshuteyshego Sobora i celoy pleyadoy vencenosnyh payacev ot shuta Balakireva i Kvasnika-duraka do YAna Lakosty i korystolyubivogo Pedrillo, lyubimca imperatricy Anny Ioannovny.
V knige takzhe predstavleny obrazy russkih ostroslovov XVIII-XIX vekov, prichem v etom neozhidannom rakurse vystupayut i harizmaticheskie istoricheskie deyateli (Grigoriy Potemkin, Aleksey Ermolov), a takzhe nashi otechestvennye Myunhgauzeny, mastera rasskazyvat' udivitel'nye istorii. Otdel'nye glavy posvyashcheny «shutam ot literatury» - tshcheslavnym i bezdarnym pisatelyam, stavshim parodiynymi lichnostyami v russkoy kul'ture i obektami nasmeshek u sobrat'ev po peru."