How I Became a Nun is a novel by Cesar Aira. Published in 2007, the book takes place in Argentina and chronicles the story of a young child named César who refers to herself as a girl but is seen by the rest of the world as a boy.
The plot of How I Became a Nun is rather unusual. It starts with an incident when César and her father visit an ice-cream stand in the town they have just recently moved to. César tastes the strawberry ice-cream her father buys her, and dislikes the taste; her father, tasting the ice-cream, realizes it is poisoned. The father and ice-cream vendor end up getting into a confrontation that kills the ice-cream vendor. César is hospitalized for 8 months, and when she gets out, she finds herself distant and disconnected from other people, who all seemed to have moved on.
The novel has an air of surrealism; it can be difficult to tell what is real and what is César's imagination. It was well-received by critics and the general public alike, garnering national attention in Argentina.
