This is a novel as funny as an after-dinner chat with friends, but as aggressive as a gut punch. Part of this contradiction can be found within its protagonist, Basilio, nicknamed the Hippopotamus by his enemies. A nickname that he, weighing 119 kilos, delights in: he may aspire to the quiet stillness of this animal, who knows how to wait for the right moment, but he is also drawn to its ferocious nature, its aggressive instinct, its criminal intelligence. So when he is offered the chance to leave behind his peaceful retirement for a few weeks to accompany presidential candidate Amelia Tomás on her election tour, the beast within him awakens and strikes. Throughout a journey that will take him to all kinds of cities and towns in Spain, his mission will be to load the candidate's speeches with dynamite, douse her rivals with dialectic gasoline and set fire to everything in their path.