Cada cuento de este libro es un hechizo urdido por el indiscutible ritmo y sensibilidad de Manuel Rivas. Da nombre a la obra la historia de un enamorado que cambia definitivamente su vida con el atraco a un banco. En otros relatos es también el amor el protagonista indefinido: el amor del padre que va a trabajar con la preocupación de no saber cómo ni dónde ha pasado su hijo la noche; el amor a la madre, de inefable semejanza, en el recuerdo infantil, a la lechera que pintara Vermeer en 1660; el amor más carnal de Carmiña, con la incómoda presencia de su perro Tarzán; o-¿por qué no?- el amor compasivo que llega a sentir el lector por el viejo profesor rural de "La lengua de las mariposas", historia que ha sido adaptada al cine por José Luis Cuerda y Rafael Azcona.
Manuel Rivas Barrós (born 24 October 1957 in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain) is a Galician writer, poet and journalist.
Manuel Rivas Barrós began his writing career at the age of 15. He has written articles and literature essays for Spanish newspapers and television stations like Televisión de Galicia, El Ideal Gallego, La Voz de Galicia, El País, and was the sub-editor of Diario 16 in Galicia. He was a founding member of Greenpeace Spain, and played an important role during the 2002 Prestige oil spill near the Galician coast.
As of 2017, Rivas has published 9 anthologies of poetry, 14 novels and several literature essays. He is considered a revolutionary in contemporary Galician literature. His 1996 book "Que me queres, amor?", a series of sixteen short stories, was adapted by director José Luis Cuerda for his film "A lingua das bolboretas" ("Butterfly's Tongue"). His 1998 novel "O lápis do carpinteiro" ("The Carpenter's Pencil") has been published in nine countries and it is the most widely translated work in the history of Galician literature. It also was adapted to cinema as "O Lápis do Carpinteiro".