Months after a fatal train derailment, rumors spread of a ghost who can send others back in time to the day of the terrible accident, offering a chance for people to go back and see those dear to them.

"The novel tells about the demise of a crumbling house in Medellain, Colombia. Fernando, a writer, visits his brother Daraio, who is dying of AIDS. Recounting their wild philandering and trying to come to terms with his be-loved brother's inevitable death, Fernando rants against the political forces that cause so much suffering. Vallejo is the heir to Caeline, Thomas Paine, and Machado de Assis. He hurls vitriolic, savagely funny insults at his country...