Roberto Bolaño’s Tantrums, by Ilan Stavans

Essay “Literature was a vast minefield occupied by enemies,” Roberto Bolaño, who enjoyed accruing enemies in the pantheon of Latin American letters, writes in the short story “Meeting with Enrique Lihn” (New Yorker, December 22, 2008): except for a few classic authors (just a few), and every day I had to walk through that minefield, where any false move could be fatal, with only the poems of Archilochus to guide me. It’s like that for all young writers. There comes a time when you have no support, not even from friends, forget about mentors, and there’s no one to give you a hand; publication, prizes, and grants are reserved for the others, the ones who said “Yes, sir,” over and over, or those who praised the literary mandarins, a never-ending horde distinguished only by their aptitude for discipline and punishment—nothing escapes them and they forgive nothing. Aptitude for discipline and punishment Bolaño himself had aplenty, too. And in spite of his precarious health, he had stamina. At a young age, he had made up his mind he would die. Who cared if he annoyed others? His mission, as is clear from The Savage Detectives (1998), was to upend that tradition, to take it by the neck and expose its platitudes. What is the use of sacred cows if not to be desecrated? Indeed, every tradition needs an enfant terrible, maybe more than one. When was the last time a rabble-rouser came along in Latin American literature? As Bolaño put it in... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'

[ World Literature Today | 2022-02-28 21:05:10 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Roberto Bolaño’s Tantrums, by Ilan Stavans"

“The Faster You Pour It Down”: On Charles Bukowski’s “On Drinking”

ONE DAY IN a Los Angeles bookshop in the mid-1970s, a thick City Lights softcover with a stark black-and-white spine magnetized a suburban adolescent’s eyeballs. “BUKOWSKI” the cover read at the top in big block letters, and at the bottom, in smaller letters: “Erections, Ejaculations,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-10-01 17:00:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Archer, Keyes and Halls headline Bertrams Christmas conference

Jeffrey Archer, Marian Keyes and Stacey Halls were among the authors at this year's Bertrams Christmas conference which saw Abingdon indie Mostly Books win bookshop of the year. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-30 10:31:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Present Tense: Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019–2020

The future’s uncertain, and the end is always near. Here’s what new SFF has to say about it. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-09-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Continental Divide: Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019–2020

Authors look to Africa and its diaspora and find the fantastical and futuristic. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-09-27 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Topping to open Edinburgh branch this weekend

Independent bookseller Topping & Co will open a new bookshop in central Edinburgh this weekend. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-25 21:51:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Who is ‘The Clockwork Man’? He may be literature’s first cyborg.

E.V. Odle’s 1923 science fiction novel stars a most unusual — and fascinating — character Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2019-09-25 20:52:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this

6 Science Fiction Books About Space That Are Out Of This World

Earth can be an exhausting place, so let's look beyond our planet and explore these science fiction books about space and other worlds. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-09-24 10:35:51 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Booker Prize stresses 2019 winner remains undecided after bookshop error

The Booker Prize has reassured readers the £50,000 literary award has “not yet been decided” – after a bookshop mistakenly branded copies of Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments with a “winner” sticker. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-17 10:52:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this

5 Great YA Science Fiction Series

If the idea of saying goodbye to epic sci-fi worlds fills you with sorrow, check out this list of great YA science fiction series and read on! Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-09-17 10:31:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Science fiction offers a useful way to explore China-Africa relations

Science fiction writing often serves as a thought experiment that explores shared and hidden beliefs whose material and political reverberations lie further in the future. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2019-09-16 11:39:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Quercus sends teams on bookshop tour for 'off piste' sales conference

Quercus held a sales conference with a difference yesterday by sending out its teams to booksellers around the UK, Ireland, France and Belgium. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-12 08:22:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Stanfords opens food bookshop in new joint venture

Travel book specialists Stanfords has opened a specialist food bookshop in a joint venture with street food pioneers KERB "to showcase London’s food and cultural history through literature". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-11 04:36:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Blood Quantum injects zombie horror genre with an Indigenous perspective

Telling original, Indigenous-focused stories in different genres, filmmaker Jeff Barnaby is helping to normalize the presence of Indigenous people in a variety of realms: horror, science fiction and the broader cultural world. Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2019-09-10 17:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Hachette UK and BA launch Sceptre Bookshop Award

Hachette UK and the Booksellers Association have launched a new £5,000 Sceptre Bookshop Award for stores that make an outstanding contribution to their community. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-09 10:33:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Facebook is getting very, very good at faking your face

But just how “real” is it? Five years ago, Mark Zuckerberg stated in no uncertain terms that Facebook was going to build the metaverse, a digital world that’s a surrogate for our real one, predicted by science fiction for decades. That’s why he bought Oculus, and invested heavily in VR. But a... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2019-09-04 09:00:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Lutyens & Rubinstein Bookshop to celebrate 10th anniversary

Notting Hill indie Lutyens & Rubinstein Bookshop will celebrate its 10th anniversary this autumn. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-29 17:39:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this

John W. Campbell Award Is Renamed After Winner Criticizes Him

Jeannette Ng, who won the prize this year, said the man it was named after “set the tone of science fiction that still haunts the genre.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-08-28 22:27:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Baen Books, RBmedia Partner On Audiobooks

Independent science fiction and fantasy publisher Baen Books has partnered with audiobook company RBmedia for an audiobook program. Under the agreement, the two companies will publish more than 170 audiobooks over the next three years. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-08-28 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this