Between Parentheses : Essays, Articles and Speeches, 1998-2003

Bolaño, Roberto

ISBN 10: 0811218147 / ISBN 13: 9780811218146

Published by New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2011

Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects. Seller Inventory # 965840-6

Synopsis:

Between Parentheses collects most of the newspaper columns and articles Bolano wrote during the last five years of his life, as well as the texts of some of his speeches and talks and a few scattered prologues. "Taken together," as the editor Ignacio Echevarría remarks in his introduction, they provide "a personal cartography of the writer: the closest thing, among all his writings, to a kind of fragmented 'autobiography.'" Bolano's career as a nonfiction writer began in 1998, the year he became famous overnight for The Savage Detectives; he was suddenly in demand for articles and speeches, and he took to this new vocation like a duck to water. Cantankerous, irreverent, and insufferably opinionated, Bolano also could be tender (about his family and favorite places) as well as a fierce advocate for his heroes (Borges, Cortázar, Parra) and his favorite contemporaries, whose books he read assiduously and promoted generously. A demanding critic, he declares that in his "ideal literary kitchen there lives a warrior" he argues for courage, and especially for bravery in the face of failure. Between Parentheses fully lives up to his own demands: "I ask for creativity from literary criticism, creativity at all levels."

Review: What a refreshing surprise it is to hear Bolaño in his own words.--J.C. Gabel

Bolaño frolics in pithy essays on friendship, women, ancestors, and courage. He's irreverent and purposeful, cerebral and casual, insouciantly opinionated and ironic, and charming and funny.--Donna Seaman

Bibliographic Details

Title: Between Parentheses : Essays, Articles and ...
Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
Publication Date: 2011
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good