"I did not know and do not know this person": N. G. Garin-Mikhailovsky and R. E. Zimmerman

The article discusses the evolution of the views of the writer N. G. Garin-Mikhailovsky on the issues raised in his essays «Several Years in the Countryside» and «In the Bustle of Provincial Life». Among these are questions about the future of agricultural owners and their property; about the relationship between different participants of agricultural production; and, ultimately, about truth and happiness, the way to which the writer was looking for, both on his own and with the help of his contemporaries. The most noticeable influence on N. G. Garin-Mikhailovsky, according to the authors of the article, was exerted by R. E. Zimmerman, whose book Kulak-usury, Its Socio-Economic Significance was published «at the expense of Garin». The article discusses the main provisions of this book, and also draws conclusions about how exactly the artistic position of N. G. Garin-Mikhailovsky was corrected under the influence of the socio-economic theory of R. E. Zimmerman.