A review of A. Denisov’s book on Kolomna realia in the life and works of the famous Russian writer Boris Pilnyak (Vogau) and the 30 years of Pilnyak Readings, a tradition founded by A. Auer. The book’s two-part structure is directly explained by the logic of the author’s plan: he sets out to describe the close Kolomna ties of B. Pilnyak’s family and to illustrate Kolomna-related details in the writer’s books; in the second and more voluminous part of his book, A. Denisov focuses on the personality of Professor A. Auer, the founder of Pilnyak Readings, a conference that introduced systematic studies of B. Pilnyak’s works and at first attracted local history researchers and scholars, later reaching an international audience. The history of Pilnyak Readings establishes a strong association between the writer B. Pilnyak and the internationally renowned scholar Professor A. Auer.