The book opens with three brief life stories, written and illustrated as obituaries that 32-year-old protagonist Brás de Oliva Domingos covers for his job at a newspaper. Brás reflects on how strange it is that, even when he is not at his day job writing obituaries, death is still unfolding everywhere. The comic panels foreshadow the violence and murder Brás is about to witness by casting a red glow and tint onto everything.

The story then flashes back to the morning of that same day, as Brás moves through his morning routine. Brás reads a newspaper that details an event to be thrown that evening in honor of his father, acclaimed writer Benedito de Olivas Domingos. Brás loses himself in a melancholy daydream about how his father would have made an excuse not to go or, more likely, forgotten the event was happening to begin with.

His mother calls Brás on his cell phone, calling him her “little miracle” and asking if he is going to the event for his father that night. When he confirms he is going, he informs his mother that his wife

Don't Miss Out!

Access Study Guide Now