Guillermo Toscano’s Reviews > The Savage Detectives > Status Update

I think its important to stress that bolaño believed that living this way was virtuous. He often turns down opportunities in order to be less "tied down" . I've been thinking about this a lot lately.

Its essentially an autobiographical story about Bolaño who was essentially homeless until his 50s.
Arturo Bolaño, the stand in for the author lives day to day working as a dishwasher one week and on a fishing boat, or as a park ranger the next. Sometimes he'd work for room and board and others he'd work for cash.
Its a story about transience, change and what it means to be an author or poet. (Pg 531 of 648)

"I never forget anything, that's my trouble, they say I'm the mother of all Mexican poets. I'm the only one stuck it out at the university in 1968, when the riot police and the army came in. I stayed in the faculty all alone, shut up in the bathroom, with nothing to eat for ten days, fifteen days. I don't remember anymore"

The book is filled with little jokes like this one and clever callbacks.

I think its a book that utilizes dialectics/contrasts very well. The prologue is around 100 or so pages from the perspective of a kid who's perception of reality is so obviously exaggerated. After the prologue it's a shifting narrative from a bunch of different views that are all contrasts. You get a sense for how each character sees another and how people's views about one person are often times contradictions.

I'm not sure where it's going but it has captivated me.

Robert Bolano is horny posting.
In all seriousness though I'd been meaning to get around to Bolano for some time and it wasn't until some encouragement from an acquaintance that I did so. Bolano being Chilean born having moved to Mexico city made me feel obligated to pick him up and so far I have not regretted it.
The perspective of a hormonal pretentious17 year old boy who cant stop fucking up is quite funny .