A review by cuckmulligan
Distant Star by Roberto Bolaño

4.0

Poetry and fascism. Sprawling for how short it is. Like a labyrinthine pulp detective novel whose players just happen to be poets. I don't know shit about Chilean poetry, so I don't get the nuances of the various jabs/satire, though I just *know* they're funny as hell in ways I'm unable to appreciate. Most of the namedrops are real, from what I can tell, though at least a couple I googled only to be pointed back in the direction of this book. Cheeky!

Its digressions delighted me, the tale of the armless suicidal gay artist especially: "In the current sociopolitical climate, he said to himself, committing suicide is absurd and redundant. Better to become an undercover poet."