[1] Juan María Brausen, a 40-year-old copy writer from Buenos Aires, is experiencing a midlife crisis when his wife of 5 years, Gertrudis, overgoes mastectomy.
Brausen, alone in his apartment in Calle Chile 600 (and later with his recovering wife) starts imagining the 40-year-old doctor Diaz Grey, in his clinic in the fictional town of Santa Maria, as he is visited by the seductive Elena Sala de Lagos, seeking morphine prescriptions for her addiction.
Brausen's life begins to dissolve as he keeps imagining Grey and Elena Sala in Santa Maria; his marriage falls apart and his wife, Gertrudis, leaves him, he is fired from the agency and slowly wastes his compensations.
At some point, he hires an office space, steals one of La Queca's family photos and asks his friends to call him there during the day.
In the meta-diegesis, Diaz Grey is convinced to help Elenea Sala and her husband, Lagos, find her missing paramour Oscar (The English), who escaped with their money.
The 3, accompanied by a young violinist, the daughter of the country house owner, finally appear in Buenos Aires the night before the carnival, using disguises to flee the police.
Other characters include Julio Stein's longtime lover, the ex-prostitute Mami (Miriam), Gertrudis' sister, Raquel, and the "others"; fictional citizens of Santa Maria who appear at the end of the novel.
The history of the characters is slowly revealed throughout the novel; Stein and Mami's life in Paris, a possible affair between Brausen and Gertrudis' younger sister Raquel in Montevideo, etc.
In this context, Brausen serves as a God for Grey and for the people of Santa Maria, starting in La vida breve.