Carlos Trigueiro is a master storyteller, whether long—like The Book of Desmandamentos—or short, like the short stories in The Club of the Ugly, The Book of Jealousy, and Confessions of a Guardian Angel. In Libido aos partes, he once again displays this talent by exposing the character Otávio Nunes Garcia's involvement with his own psychoanalyst, Dr. Larissa Pontes, his wife's sister. The result is a fast-paced novel with a surprising ending. Trigueiro combines, in a powerful and engaging tone, passion, jealousy, and lies as devastating ingredients of the conscience. "This novel took twelve years to mature, had several titles and constructions, and also consumed at least eight years of work in various versions written, restructured, and rewritten," explains the author, who begins the book with Nelson Rodrigues' epigraph, "Whoever has never loved their sister-in-law doesn't know what love is." The fetish of universal culture serves as the novel's guiding thread. In Libido aos partes, the obsession with sisters-in-law appears in summaries of Greco-Roman mythology, in ancient quotations from the Bible, and in historical facts involving Russian, French, and Austrian culture, or recalling aspects of Chinese and Arab culture. "The character Octavius clearly states that even Sigmund Freud had an extraordinary sister-in-law: Minna Bernays. A secretary, and so devoted, she never married, just to accompany him on research trips, leisure trips, and vacations." By mutilating his soul, tearing apart his feelings, and delivering them in literary confession, Octavius describes his sentimental history. And shows that betrayal and love often go hand in hand, regardless of the object of passion, in any circumstance. They can be found in the big things... but also in the small things.
