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Bolano, Roberto (Author) & Healy, Laura (Translator) : The Romantic Dogs: Poems

New Directions Books, New York City, NY, 2008

ISBN 0811218015

First Edition / First Printing. As New in No Dust Jacket, As Issued. 141 pages. Debut collection of poems. Now considered a contemporary classic. The first appearance of the title in English and in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a softcover original only. The First Edition is now rare. Presents Roberto Bolano's "Romantic Dogs: Poems". His searingly beautiful poetry, in a meticulously edited Bilingual Edition (the Spanish original on the left-hand page, the felicitous English translation en face). Together with "By Night In Chile" (2003), this is his single rarest title. The forty-four poems represent what Bolano's critics and admirers regard to be his finest. He wrote five poetry collections in all, now since collected and published more than five years later, in one massive volume, as "The Unknown University" (2013). Bolano has been called contemporary literature's "patron saint" because the consistently high level of his virtuosity is almost miraculous when one sees it as having been achieved during a brief and miserable personal life. It was as though he turned to literature not just to complement or complete but to change his life altogether. By the time of his untimely death in 2003 at the age of 50, Bolano was universally regarded as the greatest Spanish-language novelist of our time. And yet, Bolano himself hoped to be remembered for his poetry, which he gave up after his marriage and the birth of his child, deciding (quite rightly) that he was now responsible not just for himself but for his family's future, and that it would be much more realistic for him to earn a living by writing prose, both fiction and literary criticism, which he proceeded to produce non-stop in the very short period of time he had left. Still, his admirers believe that like Borges, whom he considered to be the greatest Spanish writer of the 20th century, his prose was made possible by, and is an extension of, his poetry. Even the most cursory consideration of his novels - the novella-length, lyrical, experimental ones as well as the epic "2666" - will bear this out. Any definitive appraisal of his oversize body of work must therefore take into account the poetry that he first wrote then reluctantly abandoned. An absolute "must-have" title for Roberto Bolano collectors. This title is a great collection. As far as we know, this is the only copy of the First American Edition/First Printing (Publication Statement on the Copyright Page with NO further printing indications, which may be found in all other multiple subsequent printings) available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online are ALL subsequent printings or remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare copy thus. One of the greatest writers of our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER ROBERTO BOLANO TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0811218015.

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