Nikolai Cherkasov, People's Artist of the USSR, gives an account of his life as an actor, and aspects of the acting profession. This is an unusual autobiography in that it is of a Soviet actor whose career was entirely within the Soviet era. Cherkasov has been a major actor in both film and the stage, since the 1920's. His last role discussed in this book was when he played Mayakovsky in The New Mayakovsky.