Nazi Literature in the Americas (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780811217057)

A tour de force of black humor and imaginary erudition, Nazi Literature in the Americas presents itself as a biographical dictionary of writers who espoused extreme right-wing ideologies in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Composed of short biographies about imaginary writers from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Columbia, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, and the USA, Nazi Literature in the Americas includes descriptions of the writers' works, cross references, a bibliography, and also an epilogue ("For Monsters"). All the writers are carefully and credibly situated in real literary worlds. There are fourteen thematic sections with titles such as "Forerunners and Figures of the Anti-Enlightenment," "Magicians, Mercenaries and Miserable Individuals," and "North American Poets."

Brisk and pseudo-academic, Nazi Literature in the Americas delicately balances irony and pathos. Bolano does not simply use his writers for target practice: in the space of a few pages he manages to sketch character portraits that are often pathetically funny, sometimes surprisingly moving, and, on occasion, authentically chilling. A remarkably inventive, funny, and disquieting sui generis novel, Nazi Literature in the Americas offers a clear view into the workings of one of the most extraordinarily fecund literary imaginations of our time.


Author: Roberto Bola
ISBN-10: 0811217051
ISBN-13: 9780811217057
Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
Language: English
Published: 02/01/2008
Pages: 280
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.88lbs
Size: 8.28h x 5.62w x 0.92d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 12/10/2007 pg. 34
Entertainment Weekly 02/29/2008 pg. 65
New York Times Book Review 02/24/2008 pg. 9
New York Times Book Review 03/02/2008 pg. 26
Multicultural Review 09/01/2008 pg. 45
Village Voice Best Books 12/10/2008 pg. 44
Chronicle of Higher Education 12/12/2008 pg. 20
London Review of Books 02/26/2009 pg. 9