“Savage Detectives,” by Roberto Bolano (reviewed by Mathew Freeman)

JGR Note: The Savage Detectives (Los Detectives Salvajes in Spanish) is an award-winning novel published by the Chilean author Roberto Bolaño in 1998. Go here for a cool Excel chart of the mammoth second section of “Savage Detectives.”
____________________

Roberto Bolano is newly the ‘it’ guy of world literature. In Savage Detectives he takes us on the journey of two failing poets who start in Mexico and end up simply everywhere.

It’s a good read, especially for us poets, because we can say “Oh I’ve gotta be better than those unknowns. They’re just all about their particular style and sex!”

We all know some idealistic deranged versifiers like the ones in this book…and yet I found myself rooting for them.