Si tiene que ser...

Taking his title from the name of an extinct giant armadillo-like mammal whose fossils are still found in parts of South America, an iconoclastic Argentine-born poet and writer offers a Dadaistic look at humankind through the dialog between the books on the shelves of a library as they await to be selected and read by the next patron.

Castellanos Moya vuelve al personaje de Moronga, su anterior novela, para retratar la paranoia y el desarraigo de un emigrado por la violencia. Erasmo Aragón sufre un abrupto cambio de vida al quedarse sin trabajo tras ser falsamente acusado de abuso sexual. La tensión que este incidente genera lo lleva a enterrar sus recuerdos. Sometido por los ansiolíticos, deja atrás la persona desinhibida que fue y se transforma en un ser torturado por la paranoia y en permanente estado de alerta. Durante el redescubrimiento de sí mismo conocerá a Joselin, enfermera que trabaja en la clínica...

Each story plotted here, opens the door to a labyrinth of unexpected emotions, ambiguities, indecipherable loyalties and abandonment. In the tone, there is a mixture of melancholy and boldness that makes us prey of its spell. In each story, some happy, some scary, there is always the certainty that all encounters, all mix-ups, all losses, leave an irrevocable mark. After traveling with the voices and the glances of extraordinary writers, a spirit of great literature is left.

This overwhelming novel, which enshrines Rita Indiana as narrator, contains many layers and fascinating twists that eludes all synthesis. The story begins in the apartment of saint and advisor to the Dominican President, Esther Escudero, better known as Omicunle. His young maid, Alcide Figueroa, whom Esther helped leave a life of prostitution thanks to the collaboration of Eric Vitier, is about to become plagued by the past, present and future that seems dizzying and nearly impossible at times. Including deities that inhabit the Caribbean Sea, political interests, Goya s prints, gender...