false 63033 0374191484 9780374191481 2939 799 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170614503m/63033.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63033.The_Savage_Detectives 72039 Roberto Bolaño 8729 2296 1 0 false Tue Dec 08 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Aug 03 18:35:43 -0700 2008 Tue Dec 08 19:26:35 -0800 2009
Maybe this has to do with my translated books problem (I always find them lifeless), or maybe it's a hype problem—the jacket copy promises a "dazzling" book that is "funny".

I should have been wary, since "funny" is a term that, when used by literary types, means that humor is neither attempted nor achieved. As for dazzling, if a book that delivers no character worth caring about and one plot development 40 percent of the way through can be said to dazzle, then this book is a damn planetarium laser light show.]]>