Summary

In Part I, “Early Works,” Carla and Gonzalo spent the winter of 1991 huddled under a poncho. Though Carla’s mother knew Carla and Gonzalo were being intimate, she never confronted them directly. Gonzalo had little idea “of what should happen in bed” (6). When Carla became disgusted with Gonzalo’s underwhelming performance, she ended their relationship. Afterwards, he “did everything he could to get back together with Carla” (6). He wrote poetry. The poetry was bad, but his pain was real (7).

Carla coped with by listening to the same song on repeat. After having sex only once, she swore never to do it again. However, as soon as she ran into Gonzalo again, they reunited in a hotel room. He read her his poetry after sex. Carla loved literature but disliked poetry. When they tried having sex again, Carla was disappointed...