Roberto Bolano (1953-2003) has caught on like a house on fire, and The Romantic Dogs, a bilingual collection of forty-four poems, offers American readers their first chance to encounter this literary phenomenon as a poet: his own first and strongest literary persona. These poems, wide-ranging in forms and length, have appeared in magazines such as Harper's, Threepenny Review, The Believer, Boston Review, Soft Targets, Tin House, The Nation, Circumference, A Public Space, and Conduit. Bolano's poetic voice is like no other's: "At that time, I'd reached the age of twenty/and I was crazy. /I'd lost a country/but won a dream./Long as I had that dream/nothing else mattered...."

About the Author
Author of 2666 and many other acclaimed works, Roberto Bolano (1953-2003) was born in Santiago, Chile, and later lived in Mexico, Paris, and Spain. He has been acclaimed "by far the most exciting writer to come from south of the Rio Grande in a long time" (Ilan Stavans, The Los Angeles Times)," and as "the real thing and the rarest" (Susan Sontag). Among his many prizes are the extremely prestigious Herralde de Novela Award and the Premio Romulo Gallegos. He was widely considered to be the greatest Latin American writer of his generation. He wrote nine novels, two story collections, and five books of poetry, before dying in July 2003 at the age of 50. Laura Healy has received a Master's in Spanish from Harvard. She is the managing editor of Harvard Review and the web editor of Zoland Poetry.

Reviews
"The first gathering in English of Bolano's wonderfully unreserved poems." -- Sarah Kerr "Grab his poetry collection when you pick up 2666." -- Barbara Hoffert "We are now given the opportunity to witness Bolano's mastery of verse. The collection is striking, truly exceptional work." -- Joseph D. Haske "The translations are superb-almost all contain a gem." -- A. W. Allworthy "His fiction and poetry do not merely reflect his life...they constitute a single work of art." -- Emily Chertoff "Powerful imagery of loneliness, love, and the contemplative moments of life and death in his cosmopolitan world." -- Alva V. Cellini "They radiate the audacity of intellect, as well as the cruelty of vision, that have won their author a devoted following." -- Mara Pastor



Book Information
ISBN 9780811218016
Author Roberto Bolano
Format Paperback
Page Count 128
Imprint New Directions Publishing Corporation
Publisher New Directions Publishing Corporation
Weight(grams) 150g
Dimensions(mm) 206mm * 132mm * 13mm