A Bit of Bolaño

Now that's an author photo.

I get a warm, smug feeling every time I finish reading a book in Spanish. Today I wrapped up Estrella distante (Distant Star) by Roberto Bolaño, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It's full of twisty digressions and surprising sentences, such as the following:

Pero es difícil ser artista en el Tercer Mundo si uno es pobre, no tiene brazos y encima es marica.

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But it's hard to be an artist in the Third World if you're poor, don't have arms, and on top of that are a fag.