The most odious of all Russian poets, Ivan Semenovich Barkov (1732-1768), still during his lifetime gained notoriety as the author of obscene, “shameful” odes and poems. His name became a household name, and therefore his pen was attributed and attributed to almost all those obscene poems that went on the lists not only in his time, but much later. But after all, Barkov is also a translator and publisher, a poet who took an active part in the literary life of his time! What if his "deplorable" reputation is not quite fair? This is the question asked by the author of the book, Doctor of Philological Sciences Natalia Ivanovna Mikhailova .