On Christmas Day 1932, Eric Arthur Blair brought his parents a stack of trial copies of his first book, “Funny Pounds in Paris and London.” After reading the chronicle of wanderings on the bottom of two European capitals written in free, colloquial language, the mother boldly summarized: “This is not Eric.” Mrs Blair was right; the author was a new, unknown writer George Orwell It will later, much later, his name will thunder around the world, become a symbol of freedom of thought and will be associated with two great works of the twentieth century: the story-narrative “Animal Farming” (1945) and the dystopian novel “1984” (1949) .. And in 1933, after the publication of the story “Funnies in Paris and London” in literary circles for the first time started talking about a new original writer. And already in the first major work of Orwell, the main features of his writing style and manner, which are so characteristic of attention to language, simplicity, reliability and accuracy, and which, according to T. C. Eliot, distinguished by "root honest straightforwardness". Debut, largely autobiographical, the story is full of humor, light, dynamic and wit. It is no coincidence that many fans of Orwell’s work call “Funny Pounds in Paris and London” their favorite work. This book is just a vivid episode from the great reportage of Life, an episode that causes both an unwitting smile and admiration.