Nazi Literature in the Americas

Hola guys! I know it's been a while, but heck, I don't even know if anyone is reading this. The next book on this list was Nazi Literature in the Americas, written in 2003 by Roberto Bolano... can't figure out how to make that n a Spanish n here on Blogger... so yeah. That's the guy. It was translated into English just this year by Chris Andrews. So that's what makes it perfect for this year's list- trust me, my reading of the Spanish version would have resulted in a very, very different blog post.

SO! Nazi Literature in the Americas was, sort of, about Nazi literature in the Americas, but not really. The book was a series of short stories, written like biographies, of writers that have vague connections to the Nazi party and are so unrealistic it was hysterical! The stories are bathed in actual history, so I had a hard time sorting out what was fact and what was fiction. The stories are intensely funny in a dark way. For example, as a side note in a story, Bolano included this:

"The opening pages introduce the reader to O'Connell's dog, a mutant, stray German Shepherd with telepathic powers and Nazi tendencies..." (p 105)

Seriously? A dog with Nazi tendencies? In another biography, one of the authors writes a book with the same number of paragraphs in each chapter, and someone finds out the he's been hiding acrostics in the first letter of each paragraph. So the first letters of each first paragraph in every chapter read things like THIS PLACE SUCKS and other more offensive messages. I laughed out loud at some moments, which is always a great thing to be able to say about a book. The stories are ironic and witty and tongue-in-cheek, and I very much enjoyed myself.

The bad news is this: The stories are fairly depressing. Most of the writers aren't successful, but can't get writing out from under their skin. Most are involved in the Nazi party in some vague way. There's murder, suicide, and all the rest. It's meant to be ironic, true, but I know for certain that this book isn't for everyone. I am SO glad it was recommended, because it's stretching my own boundaries of comfort, and I'm having fun. But I would NOT recommend this to everyone... though the people I would recommend it to would probably adore it. (re: Melissa Mason.)

So What do you think? Did I explain that well enough to help you know whether or not you were one of the people I'd recommend it to? Have you read any of his other work? Are you out there?

Also, shout out to Kyle of Enrich Design for telling me how to make this blog pretty- otherwise I'd still be on Blogger Template A.