Shaving and literature

Author's name: Juan Pablo Villalobos

“The situation is now reversed: I will write about us because, in essence, I will not be talking about us, but about something else, something that transcends us. This is the nature of literature; you write about something while in reality you are talking about something else.”

The protagonist of this story is its narrator, who, coincidentally, shares the same name as its author, and, by an even greater coincidence, also works as a writer. A man living a relatively happy and conflict-free life, he begins to reflect on his surroundings, elaborating on thoughts about literature, writing, and their value to humanity. He does this while recounting ordinary events confined to his neighborhood, such as a visit to a gastroenterologist, giving a writing seminar at a library, and getting a haircut. However, the scene quickly becomes complicated with the appearance of two obstinate receptionists, an Ecuadorian aspiring to be a writer, and a French hairdresser. Things become less ordinary and more bizarre, culminating in the discovery of a severed finger, which places our protagonist in an unenviable position.