Roger Caillois (1913–1978) is a brilliant erudite and consummate master of assays. The mystery becomes the object of his attention in this book, whether it is enigmatical brood of creative artists’ fantasy or odd nature creation stirring our imagination.  Roger Caillois believes that “unknown” does not mean “unknowable”. From his point of view the wonder of mystery only stimulates the researcher inquisitive mind. It provokes aspiration for “decoding” the sense of unguessed phenomena, to find the key to mysterious code. The reader with interest will follow the analytical train of thought moving, inspired by discoveries of writer creative intuition.

The book contains writings published in Russian for the first time