Under the mask of a pseudonym. Who and why hides their names

Many people take on pseudonyms - writers and actors, politicians and scientists, musicians, singers, artists... Listing all the surnames would make up a voluminous book. And the number of pseudonyms themselves - Anton Chekhov had about seventy of them - is simply immeasurable. A pseudonym can be any typographic sign, a simple ellipsis, or a mathematical symbol. There are pseudonyms consisting of just one letter - for example, ь or ъ. But there are also multi-component pseudonyms - the longest one mentioned in this book contains 288 letters and five commas. In short, this book is a very engaging read. However, it is also very serious, as the author raises the question: why does a person hide their real name? The stories of the origins of pseudonyms follow one after another, and it becomes clear: for some, it's a game, for others - a way to say what you think and avoid unpleasant consequences, and for some, maintaining incognito is a matter of life and death.
Petr Obraztsov is a writer, scientific journalist, and author of many popular science books.