Critical Insights: Roberto Bolaño

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The New York Times once hailed Chilean poet and author Roberto Bolaño as "the most significant Latin American literary voice of his generation." As author of such acclaimed works as Los Detectives Salvajes, 2666, Amuleto, and Una novelita lumpen, Bolañoled an unsettled, turbulent life full of revolution and provocation-tones that burst through in every word he wrote. This volume examines that life, as well as Bolaño's literary politics and influences.

Critical Insights: Roberto Bolaño explores numerous topics, including film adaptations of Bolaño’s works, the relations between his poetry and his prose, and the influence of US literature in Bolaño’s writing. They also approach his literature from different theoretical angles, including Marxism, historicism, and queer theory. The first two articles study the historical background and critical reception of Bolaño’s works. The third offers an approach from a Marxist perspective and the fourth, a comparative study with Elena Poniatowska. The rest are topical essays that include close readings of some of Bolaño’s most influential works.

Each essay is 2,500 to 5,000 words in length, and all essays conclude with a list of "Works Cited," along with endnotes. Finally, the volume's appendixes offer a section of useful reference resources:

• A chronology of the author's life
  
• A complete list of the author's works and their original dates of publication
• A general bibliography
• A detailed paragraph on the volume's editor
• Notes on the individual chapter authors
• A subject index

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