Will I love By Night in Chile?

Love this short novel/novella about a literary critic/priest looking back on his life. This is my first book by Bolańo, and it won’t be my last! The details about Chile’s literary and political trajectory were fascinating and timely. The personal history—which functioned at times like a confession—and the way the work unfolded in a nontraditional way hooked me. And the writing is second to none. Unexpected and apt similes pop up like they do in Neruda’s work (and Pablo looms large in this book). My kind of book.

I’m also a playwright, so I really admire a full story told in propulsive first-person monologue. This novella is a confession of Father Urrutia from his deathbed, beginning with the line “I am dying now, but I still have many things to say.” As he speaks, the priest untangles the twisted, uncomfortable agreements between artists and institutions in Chile under Pinochet. I often recommend this book for people who have not yet read Bolaño and might feel intimated by the length of his major works.