HEAR YE MORTALS

Spirited teens create music under the towering shadow of an oppressive government.

In present-day Rosario, Argentina, an angel comes to collect a girl who doesn’t remember her own name. Before it’s time to go, the angel shares the story of the Aguirre brothers and the origins of their band, Río Babel. In 1976, Daniel Aguirre dreams of becoming a rock star, spurred on by the poetic lyrics of his brother, Adrián. Against a backdrop of hyperinflation, police violence, and political turmoil, the brothers and their bandmates hone their craft, undeterred even by a traumatizing brush with the police. The March 24 coup d’etat brings down Isabel Perón’s fragile government and a military junta seizes power, promising harsh national reform. When a member of Río Babel goes missing, a demo of one of their songs mysteriously ends up on the radio, spreading like wildfire as a protest anthem and inviting more calamity for the teens. Within the framework of a bittersweet conversation between an angel and a girl, this historically grounded tale of a fictional band and the fates that befall its members unfurls in bouts of profound tragedies and hopeful triumphs, all wonderfully presented in Méndez’s rich, lyrical prose. The author gives each character palpable depth, including those who exist on the story’s margins, and the occasional interjection of historical context provides insightful color.

A fierce, timely, and beautifully executed ode to artistic expression imbued with a spirit of optimism.