This surreal novel takes place in Spain, located in the Fifth Dementia, a dream dimension known to all and sundry as Hell on Earth, with the life expectancy of Eswatini, and the fertility rate of Somalia. Existence for many in this ticking time bomb of a city has sunk to a Hobbesian low: solitary, nasty, and short. The story's protagonist, Peki Zambrano, is a butter maker/shop owner with dwarfism who lives in despair with his mentally ill mother. She ebbs and flows with the tide of their history, whereas he is continually fighting not to be pulled under. A master in love with his medium, he also happens to be a murderer, using his victims' fat to create the product. The 'Butyrum' creates drug-like hallucinations, and Peki gets high on his supply.
As business booms, the body count goes up. Peki is in desperate and dangerous pursuit of whatever pleasures might be squeezed from the free fall of contemporary civilization. He is no longer lurking menacingly in the wings, but is maniacally taking center stage. The toxic domestic environment is poisoning him. The dark shadow of law enforcement is moving ever closer. The country is on the brink of collapse, with financial disaster looming. Will Peki find the self-and-societal acceptance he is looking for?
The book is by turns a Grand Guignol, character study, Rabelaisian soap opera, and cat-and-mouse psychological thriller, a cautionary tale of aberrant passion and sensual perversion, a dance among the dramatis personae. How will it end once the music stops?