Roberto Bolaño

Author profile

born

in Santiago, Chile

April 28, 1953

died

July 15, 2003

genre

Literature & Fiction, Poetry

influences

Jorge Luis Borges, Javier Marías, Julio Cortázar, Georges Perec, Nican ...more

About this author

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For most of his early adulthood, Bolaño was a vagabond, living at one time or another in Chile, Mexico, El Salvador, France and Spain.

Bolaño moved to Europe in 1977, and finally made his way to Spain, where he married and settled on the Mediterranean coast near Barcelona, working as a dishwasher, a campground custodian, bellhop and garbage collector — working during the day and writing at night.

He continued with poetry, before shifting to fiction in his early forties. In an interview Bolaño stated that he made this decision because he felt responsible for the future financial well-being of his family, which he knew he could never secure from the earnings of a poet. This was confirmed by Jorge Herralde, who explained that Bolaño "abandoned...more For most of his early adulthood, Bolaño was a vagabond, living at one time or another in Chile, Mexico, El Salvador, France and Spain.

Bolaño moved to Europe in 1977, and finally made his way to Spain, where he married and settled on the Mediterranean coast near Barcelona, working as a dishwasher, a campground custodian, bellhop and garbage collector — working during the day and writing at night.

He continued with poetry, before shifting to fiction in his early forties. In an interview Bolaño stated that he made this decision because he felt responsible for the future financial well-being of his family, which he knew he could never secure from the earnings of a poet. This was confirmed by Jorge Herralde, who explained that Bolaño "abandoned his parsimonious beatnik existence" because the birth of his son in 1990 made him "decide that he was responsible for his family's future and that it would be easier to earn a living by writing fiction." However, he continued to think of himself primarily as a poet, and a collection of his verse, spanning 20 years, was published in 2000 under the title The Romantic Dogs.

Regarding his native country Chile, which he visited just once after going into voluntary exile, Bolaño had conflicted feelings. He was notorious in Chile for his fierce attacks on Isabel Allende and other members of the literary establishment.

In 2003, after a long period of declining health, Bolaño died. It has been suggested that he was at one time a heroin addict and that the cause of his death was a liver illness resulting from Hepatitis C, with which he was infected as a result of sharing needles during his "mainlining" days. However, the accuracy of this has been called into question. It is true that he suffered from liver failure and was close to the top of a transplant list at the time of his death.

Bolaño was survived by his Spanish wife and their two children, whom he once called "my only motherland."

Although deep down he always felt like a poet, his reputation ultimately rests on his novels, novellas and short story collections. Although Bolaño espoused the lifestyle of a bohemian poet and literary enfant terrible for all his adult life, he only began to produce substantial works of fiction in the 1990s. He almost immediately became a highly regarded figure in Spanish and Latin American letters.

In rapid succession, he published a series of critically acclaimed works, the most important of which are the novel Los detectives salvajes (The Savage Detectives), the novella Nocturno de Chile (By Night In Chile), and, posthumously, the novel 2666. His two collections of short stories Llamadas telefónicas and Putas asesinas were awarded literary prizes.

In 2009 a number of unpublished novels were discovered among the author's papers.(less)

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Roberto Bolaño's Books

Average rating: 3.98 · 41,609 ratings · 5,989 reviews · 51 distinct works · Similar authors

	The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño, Natasha Wimmer (Translator) 4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 11,325 ratings — published 1998 — 41 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	2666 4.18 of 5 stars 4.18 avg rating — 10,870 ratings — published 2004 — 45 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolaño, Chris Andrews (Translator) 3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 avg rating — 2,580 ratings — published 2000 — 28 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Distant Star by Roberto Bolaño, Chris Andrews (translator) 3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 avg rating — 2,013 ratings — published 1996 — 28 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Last Evenings on Earth by Roberto Bolaño, Chris Andrews (Translator) 4.11 of 5 stars 4.11 avg rating — 1,627 ratings — published 2006 — 6 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Nazi Literature in the Americas 3.87 of 5 stars 3.87 avg rating — 1,652 ratings — published 1993 — 21 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Amulet by Roberto Bolaño, Chris Andrews (Translator) 3.78 of 5 stars 3.78 avg rating — 1,725 ratings — published 1999 — 17 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Skating Rink by Roberto Bolaño, Chris Andrews (Translator) 3.74 of 5 stars 3.74 avg rating — 1,122 ratings — published 1993 — 17 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Third Reich by Roberto Bolaño, Natasha Wimmer (Translator) 3.44 of 5 stars 3.44 avg rating — 1,118 ratings — published 2010 — 24 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Antwerp by Roberto Bolaño, Natasha Wimmer (Translator) 3.62 of 5 stars 3.62 avg rating — 866 ratings — published 2003 — 10 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Roberto Bolaño…

Quotes by Roberto Bolaño

“Books are finite, sexual encounters are finite, but the desire to read and to fuck is infinite; it surpasses our own deaths, our fears, our hopes for peace.”
― Roberto Bolaño

tags: death, fear, hope, peace, reading, sex

403 people liked it

“Reading is like thinking, like praying, like talking to a friend, like expressing your ideas, like listening to other people's ideas, like listening to music, like looking at the view, like taking a walk on the beach.”
― Roberto Bolaño, 2666

tags: books, reading

152 people liked it

“So everything lets us down, including curiosity and honesty and what we love best. Yes, said the voice, but cheer up, it's fun in the end.”
― Roberto Bolaño, 2666

tags: optimism

144 people liked it

See all Roberto Bolaño's quotes »

Polls

Who is your favorite Latin American writer?

Jorge Luis Borges

3 votes 21.4%

Mario Vargas Llosa

2 votes 14.3%

Isabel Allende

2 votes 14.3%

Alma Guillermoprieto

2 votes 14.3%

Roberto Bolanos

1 vote 7.1%

Octavio Paz

1 vote 7.1%

jose marti

1 vote 7.1%

Eduardo Galeano

1 vote 7.1%

Juan Rulfo (write-in)

1 vote 7.1%

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz [ai:sor Juana In�de la Cruz|4769859|sor Juana In

0 votes 0.0%

Carlos Fuentoes

0 votes 0.0%

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

0 votes 0.0%

Ernesto Sabato (write-in)

0 votes 0.0%

14 total votes

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Roberto's Fans (1127)

Roberto Bolaño

Author profile

combine editionsRoberto Bolaño's Books

Quotes by Roberto Bolaño

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

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Videos

combine editions
Roberto Bolaño's Books