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).