John Jeremiah Sullivan was the first to tell me about Bolaño. John said, 'The Savage Detectives, go get it.' Later that afternoon, I was told by a dozen bookstores that no such title existed, which is the problem with having friends who get ARCs of everything.

I had lunch with John and our friend Joel the other day. Joel made soup; John made biscuits. The light was fine and white and wintry. I owe my career to John, a fact of which I was reminded sitting there in his immaculate kitchen.

Afterwa...