Una historia americana [An American History]

I’ll admit, I approached *Una historia americana* expecting a dry historical account—what I got instead was a literary punch to the gut. Butazzoni’s novel grabs you by the collar in the first chapter and doesn’t let go, weaving between the Tupamaros’ hideouts, government war rooms, and Mitrione’s own grim calculations with the precision of a scalpel. The brilliance lies in how the story refuses easy judgments: the guerrillas are idealists but also ruthless tacticians; Mitrione is a family man who teaches torture. It’s this moral gray zone that makes the book haunt you long after the last chapter. Leto Dugatkin’s performance is the audiobook’s secret weapon. His delivery is so understated that at first, you might wonder if he’s *too* subdued—but then you realize he’s mirroring the novel’s own tension. When the violence erupts (and it does, suddenly and brutally), his voice remains controlled, making the moments of raw emotion hit even harder. My only critique? The production occasionally suffers from uneven audio levels during the more frenetic scenes, where the music and ambient sounds (used sparingly but effectively) briefly overpower the narration. And while the 16-hour runtime is justified by the depth of the story, there are moments in the middle where the political maneuvering drags just enough to test your focus. Still, this is a minor quibble for an audiobook that feels less like a listening experience and more like bearing witness. If you’re drawn to stories where history and fiction collide with the force of a car bomb, this is your next obsession. Just don’t expect to sleep easily afterward.