Chapter 17 Summary, Analysis, and Key Takeaways
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Tristán arrives at Dorotea's apartment expecting a quick photo session, hoping to slip away afterward to meet Montserrat at the Ediciones B offices downtown. Instead, he finds a full-scale production: makeup artists, a hairdresser, wardrobe staff, and assistants moving through the space. Dorotea has dressed him in period costumes for a Monte Cristo–style soap opera—slim dark suits with cravats and a long, Fabio-like wig. Tristán hates the clothes and the wig, and he grows increasingly restless. He asks Dorotea twice how long the shoot will take, but she deflects, offering him a diet soda instead.
The photographer criticizes the wig, demanding an Eduardo Palomo–inspired look, and a different wig is brought in. Tristán argues with Dorotea about smoking—he wants a cigarette, she warns it will stain his teeth—and about his age. Dorotea reminds him, with chilling bluntness, that he's close to forty with gray hair and that he can't afford to be picky.
Excusing himself to the bathroom, Tristán removes the wig and studies his reflection under the harsh, unflattering lights surrounding the mirror. He runs a nail along the scar beneath his left eye, smoothing the wrinkles, and checks his teeth—still in good shape from years of dental work. His mind drifts to his early career: the Top Teen Idols lists, the cover of De Telenovela with Karina, and the fabricated headline about their first kisses. He remembers inventing a high school girlfriend to hide the embarrassing truth—his actual first kiss happened during a fotonovela gig.
He reflects on how his entire magazine biography is a lie. It never mentions the Abaids, the neighborhood where he grew up, or the cheesy photo shoots. Instead, it tells a story of being discovered by a talent scout at a discotheque. Karina's biography was equally false: she was sold as a wholesome