Published at the expense of N. Garin-Mikhailovsky: R. Zimmerman and his book «Kulak-usury, its socio-economic significance» through the eyes of the publisher

In 1898 in St. Petersburg at the expense of N. Garin-Mikhailovsky was published a book by the writer and journalist R. Zimmerman «Kulak-usury, its socio-economic significance». The reason for the latter’s interest in the ideas of socio-economic development of the country derived by Zimmerman in his work was N. Garin-Mikhailovsky’s own reflections, which formed the basis of the story «Several years in the village». This article, firstly, examines the problems and poetics of Garin-Mikhailovsky’s story about an unsuccessful attempt to discover the causes of social disharmony. Secondly, an attempt is being made to read R. Zimmerman’s book «Kulak-usury, its socio-economic significance» through the eyes of its publisher, who saw in R. Zimmerman’s work the answer he sought, but did not find at the time, to the question of who is to blame for the collapse of his hopes for the restoration of harmonious existence.