Awards

• Commended for Honorable Mention - PROSE Awards in Literature 2015
• Commended for Honorable Mention – PROSE Awards in Literature 2015
• Commended for PROSE (Literature) 2015

Overview

Since the publication of The Savage Detectives in 2007, the work of Roberto Bolaño (1953–2003) has achieved an acclaim rarely enjoyed by literature in translation. Chris Andrews, a leading translator of Bolaño's work into English, explores the singular achievements of the author's oeuvre, engaging with its distinct style and key thematic concerns, incorporating his novels and stories into the larger history of Latin American and global literary fiction. Andrews provides new readings and interpretations of Bolaño's novels, including 2666, The Savage Detectives, and By Night in Chile, while at the same time examining the ideas and narrative strategies that unify his work. He begins with a consideration of the reception of Bolaño's fiction in English translation, examining the reasons behind its popularity. Subsequent chapters explore aspects of Bolaño's fictional universe and the political, ethical, and aesthetic values that shape it. Bolaño emerges as the inventor of a prodigiously effective ""fiction-making system,"" a subtle handler of suspense, a chronicler of aimlessness, a celebrator of courage, an anatomist of evil, and a proponent of youthful openness. Written in a clear and engaging style, Roberto Bolano's Fiction offers an invaluable understanding of one of the most important authors of the last thirty years.

Full Product Details

9780231168069

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Reviews

An amazing introduction to an amazing writer, touching upon all that makes Bola?o great: the romantic anarchism of his politics, the playfulness of his fiction, and the obsession with evil.--Siddhartha Deb, author of The Beautiful and the Damned

An amazing introduction to an amazing writer, touching upon all that makes Roberto Bolano great: the romantic anarchism of his politics, the playfulness of his fiction, and the obsession with evil. -- Siddhartha Deb, author of The Beautiful and the Damned This book is a rare thing: a work of literary criticism that exhibits the very qualities it praises in the texts it analyzes. Chris Andrews's writing, like Roberto Bolano's, expands horizons, opens up remarkable possibilities, sings like an angel, makes new and unexpected connections, quietly understates its immense erudition, and offers a ride through a 'utopia of unending narration' that is thrillingly free of obfuscation, lip service, sanctimony, grandiosity, and boredom. -- Esther Allen, coeditor of In Translation: Translators on Their Work and What It Means In this superb volume of criticism... Andrews, the English translator of 10 of Bolano's books, deftly analyzes the complex themes and narrative layers of Bolano's fictional universe...An indispensable guide to navigating the rich world of Bolano's fiction. Publishers Weekly 07-2014 Profusely documented and with a thorough bibliography, this full-length critical monograph is a great start to what will, one hopes, be a parade of analytical examinations of Bolano's works. Library Journal 6/15/14

An amazing introduction to an amazing writer, touching upon all that makes Bolano great: the romantic anarchism of his politics, the playfulness of his fiction, and the obsession with evil. -- Siddhartha Deb, author of The Beautiful and the Damned

Author Information

Chris Andrews teaches at Western Sydney University, where he is a member of the Writing and Society Research Center. He has translated ten books by Roberto Bolano. His book Lime Green Chair won the 2011 Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize.

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