How to know the man behind works of fiction so prone to extravagance? In the first biography of Chilean novelist and poet Roberto Bola o, journalist M nica Maristain tracks Bola o from his childhood in Chile to his youth in Mexico and his early infatuation with literature, to his beginnings as a poet, and to the stardom that came with the publication of The Savage Detectives and 2666. Throughout the book, Maristain present an image far removed from the stereotypes that have been created over the years-such as drug use-to introduce a writer whose works grabbed readers worldwide. Maristain writes as a journalist and admirer-impressed with the power of Bola o's prose and the cool irony with which he faced the literary world.
