Chapter 7 Summary

Chapter 7 is the text of a radio broadcast. Sinchi, the host of the show, opens with a daily segment called "A Little Bit of Culture." In this segment, Sinchi tells his listeners the story of the famous House of Iron. The House of Iron, designed by the French inventor Eiffel, the same man who designed the Eiffel Tower, is a well-known landmark in the Iquitos region of Peru. Initially a German hotel, the House of Iron was purchased by Loreto Anselmo de Aguila and moved, piece by piece, to the town of Loreto that bore his name. The building proved to be uninhabitable in the sweltering Amazon summers. After changing hands once or twice, the House of Iron eventually became the Iquitos Social Club.

Sinchi then turns his attention to the local scandal of prostitutes servicing soldiers on outlying military bases. He blasts...