THE RETURN

New York City, NY: New Directions Books, 2010. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. As New/As New Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: New Directions Books, 2010. Hardcover. As New/As New. First Edition/First Printing. 200 pages. The author's eleventh book to be translated into English. A collection of short stories, they are part of the "Last Evenings On Earth" collection and are finally restored and completed in this second installment. The first appearance of the title in English and in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. Presents Roberto Bolano's "The Return" in a felicitous English translation. Thirteen vintage Bolano pieces. "The stories have a subdued quality, from underworld confessionals like 'Snow' and 'Joanna Silvestri' to tender reminiscences like 'Cell Mates' and the heart-breaking missed romance of 'Clara'. Devotees of Bolano will recognize the writer's merciless and often humorous fusion of high art and dark human nature in small flights like 'Meeting with Enrique Lihn' and comic bloodbaths like 'William Burns' " (Publishers Weekly). What exactly is Roberto Bolano's achievement? "He emerged as a writer at a time when Latin America no longer believed in utopias, when paradise had become hell, and that sense of monstrousness and waking nightmares and constant flight from something horrid permeates '2666' and all his work. A writer who worked without a net, who went all out, with no brakes, and in doing so, created a new way to be a great Latin American writer" (Rodrigo Fresan). The consistently high level of Bolano's virtuosity is almost miraculous when one sees it as having been achieved during a brief and miserable personal life. It was as though he turned to literature not just to complement or complete but to change his life altogether. By the time of his untimely death in 2003 at the age of 50, Bolano was universally regarded as the greatest Spanish-language novelist of our time. "The real thing and the rarest" (Susan Sontag). An absolute "must-have" title for Roberto Bolano collectors. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing (American) still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online are damaged/bumped because of shoddy packing and poor handling on the publisher's part. A scarce copy thus. One of the greatest writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER ROBERTO BOLANO TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0811217159.