Summary

Glaxo tells the intertwining stories of four men living in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina near to the Glaxo factory at different times during the 20th century. Their lives and actions are gradually revealed to have had a profound impact on each other across the ages.

Part I is set in October 1973 and is told from the perspective of a barber named Vicente Vardemann. It is written in the present tense. He recalls seeing a group of workmen arrive in the town and shut down the railway tracks. They leave burning barrels at night to alert people that the area was closed. Vardemann continues to observe the progress of the workmen and begins to dream about trains being derailed at night.

Vardemann and his father observe the house across the street from their barbershop. An ambulance arrives at the Barrios...