Last Evenings on Earth is the first book by Roberto Bolano that I've ever read, and I am deeply impressed. Even in translation, Bolano comes across as a sort of poet laureate of vaguely dissatisfied intellectuals, delivering these wonderful short stories with a wry humor and an eye for detail. Most impressive is Bolano's skillful use of fast-flowing language that really does sweep the reader along in a journey that is simultaneously thrilling, confusing, and never subject to obvious interpretation. And that's the strength of Bolano's gift - he seems to accept the world as it is, without the endless re-invention found in so much contemporary fiction that can reduce it to mere fantasy. After this first sampling of his art, I'm sure I'll be reading much more of Bolano's output in the coming years. ( )

This is a collection of fourteen stories. Common themes deal with writers living in exile, primarily Mexico and Spain but also more broadly in Europe, forging their own communities that are often sectarian and prejudiced, where high-level intellectual discussions or pretensions of the same, cut across social and personal conflicts, writers barely eking out a living, some that remain true to their craft, others that compromise to live, names that might be notable for a time and restricted space but will not be noteworthy in the grander context, people disconnected from their roots and so buffeted by events. I don’t know that anyone ends up happy in these stories and yet they are not entirely unhappy stories; they are just stories of life and lives, of the over-arching value of literature and poetry and the demands and sacrifices they impose, of the “hells” that descended on so many Latin American countries with repression, torture, disappearances and that scattered so many of a generation. As Bolano notes in one story, “…violence, real violence, is unavoidable, at least for those of us who were born in Latin America during the fifties and sixties and were about twenty years old at the time of Salvador Allende’s death”. But through it all there is literature and, as Bolano says in another of the story: “We never stop reading, although every book comes to an end, just as we never stop living, although death is certain”.

Wonderful writing. Recommended reading.

A wonderful book of short stories focusing primarily on the experiences of exiles from Pinochet's coup in 1973 or other Latin American fascist regimes. The stories are set in Mexico, Spain, or France, generally amongst poets, artists, and professionals. My favorite story is the first, "Sensina," about a short story writer, older than the narrator, who supports himself in exile by entering literary contests. Eventually he returns to Argentina to look for his "disappeared" son, and dies. None of the exiles overtly support or talk of Allende, or commit themselves to political action, but their lives all seem to be lacking something that they cannot describe. ( )

This book of stories by Roberto Bolaño is a NYT Most Notable Book. Bolaño is a Chilean author whose book The Savage Detectives was named to the most recent NYT Most Notable list as well. It seems to be getting a lot of buzz on many ‘Best of 2007′ lists. Although Bolaño died in 2003, some of his works are just now being published in English.

The settings of these stories are in Chile, Mexico, Spain, and many other countries. It has a very international feel to it. Bolaño’s writing is fascinating. Without really enjoying many of the stories, I still felt compelled to read them. There is always something literary going on; perhaps that’s why they intrigued me. However, many of the stories just had too much violence and seediness for my taste–otherwise the book would have had a higher rating from me.

I’m curious about The Savage Detectives, though, and I may try to read that one in 2008. ( )

When I think of literature coming out of Chile I think of Nicanor Parra and I think of Roberto Bolano. There have been other great Chilean writers--Neruda, Donoso, Mistral and Lihn but Parra and Bolano IMO are its two brightest stars. Bolano is just a wonderful writer. Last evenings on earth does not have even one dud--one story approaching a dud out of its 14 stories. Maybe not quite the masterpiece that the Savage Detectives is or has become--nonetheless it is a gem. Starting with 'Sensini' about an Argentine exile writer from the 70's-80's military dictatorship eking out a living in Spain doing translations and entering and sometimes winning literary contests for prize money--Bolano in his clear, lucid and unsentimental prose shows the sorry existence of an artist forced to live outside his milieu. The stories sometimes narrated by his alter-ego Belano or at other times just B can be described as a kind of living history of coping with exile--not unknown to many Latin American writers of his era. B is often itinerant--almost always a wanderer-a man without a home often connecting with the disastrous effects of his displacement and the displacement of other South American refugees. They are left mostly with their dreams of what could have been and what will never be. Beyond that the prose is remarkable--a living current--that carries the reader along effortlessly--a kind of morning after lucidity that has you wishing at the end there were even just one more story to go. A masterful writer. ( )