173. The Last Evenings on Earth by Roberto Bolano
Roberto Bolano's Last Evenings on Earth (1997; translation (by Chris Andrews), 2006, NDP; 219) is a collection of 19 short stories. The stories are set in various countries including Mexico, Spain and the United States and sometimes, briefly, Chile. They are stories about Chileans in exile. Though the stories are varied on different themes, the issue of incapability, of the impotence to affect the status quo runs through all. In all of these stories, Bolano carried through to the reader the frustrations, agitations, mental breakdown and restlessness of individuals who, through political instability, have been thrown into different countries. The stories were all set during the overthrow of Salvador Allende by Augusto Pinochet and the arrests and killings that followed. Most of these fourteen short stories are about writers struggling to survive in the exiled countries, those at the twilight of their careers and life. Another unique feature of the collection is the use of le...