The Return

One of the remarkable qualities of Bolano's short stories is that they seem to tell what Bolano called 'the secret story' 'the one we'll never know'. The Return contains thirteen unforgettable tales bent on returning to haunt you most of them appearing in English for the first time here. Wide-ranging suggestive and daring a Bolano story is just as likely to concern the unexpected fate of a beautiful ex-girlfriend the history of a porn star or two embittered police detectives debating their favourite weapons: his plots go anywhere and everywhere and they always surprise. Consider the title piece: a young party animal collapses in a Parisian disco and dies on the dance floor; just as his soul is departing his body it realizes strange doings are afoot - and what follows next defies the imagination (except Bolano's own of course). This treasure trove of disquieting short master-works from the giant of Latin American literature perfectly encapsulates 'the fact that Bolano writes with such elegance verve and style and is so immensely readable' (Guardian).