As Colombia`s famed political cartoonist, Javier Mallarino, strolls through downtown Bogota in the hours before a public celebration of his career in the grand Teatro Colon, he contemplates the start of his professional life, & how he set down his oils & took up a pen to begin drawing caricatures for a living. But the celebration has far-reaching consequences: as he leaves the theatre a figure from his past, now a young woman, emerges from the crowd outside & forces Mallarino to confront an incident that took place in his home half a lifetime ago, calling into question his reputation & the value of his life`s work. Vasquez`s terse, poetic prose contrasts starkly with the intense & sharply focused content of this beautifully structured novel. Questioning the power of memory & the media, & their ability to distort, inform & destroy, Vasquez plays with the past & the present, challenging our perception of the truth.