"One and a Half Rooms" is perhaps the most famous essay by Joseph Brodsky, written by him in America in English in 1985. The poet recalls his childhood and youth, the famous Muruzis house on Liteyny Avenue, where he lived from 1955 until his emigration, about his recently deceased parents whom he was never to see again after leaving. "I write about them in English because I want to grant them a reserve of freedom; a reserve that grows with the number of those wishing to read it. I want Maria Volpert and Alexander Brodsky to gain reality in the 'foreign code of conscience,' I want the movement verbs of the English language to repeat their gestures. This will not resurrect them, but at least English grammar can serve as a better emergency exit from the stoves of the state crematorium than Russian." By its nature, the essay "One and a Half Rooms" is close to lyricism; it is poetry in prose that delights us with the beauty and power of emotional impact. In the present edition, the essay is published in two languages — English and Russian (translated by Maxim Nemtsov).