First came the fever, then the eel. System Failure immerses us in two crises that have marked our recent history. With vibrant, testimonial prose, somewhere between a novel and a chronicle, Osa exposes the collapse of a confined world and a mind trapped in its own confinement. How do you survive when the disease persists, even though the virus has gone? A tale of resilience, memory, and humanity in uncertain times. “This is the story of a slow collapse and of salvation through writing. It's a book about the pandemic, but not only. About the midlife crisis, but not only. This profound and moving story speaks to us of the fight for life and of the human capacity for survival. It's impossible not to feel identified and trapped.” Rosa Montero “Not so long ago, five years ago, we lived through a zombie apocalypse. So close and far away at the same time. As a frontline survivor of the respiratory virus and its devastating consequences for mental health, Roberto Osa has taken on the moral task of remembering himself and reminding us of the need to build a dam against collective oblivion. Hence the importance of this direct, vibrant, and raw testimony, laden with uncomfortable questions and hypnotically narrative. A film of horror, but also of courage and hope.