Animal carbons the story of three men linked by fire firefighter Ernesto Wesley, his brother Ronivon, a corpse incinerator, and Edgar Wilson, a coal miner. All three live in a place that could be in Brazil as well as anywhere else, as long as it is razed land; during a time that could be anyone, as long as everything is finished or about to end. In that time and place, energy is obtained from mineral coal and corpses, trades are violent or alienating and life is a series of reactions where the future has no role. In this bleak landscape, Ana Paula Maia is able to build a deeply lyrical and human novel, a drama corrected by an incendiary humor and loaded with almost cinematic images.
