Synopses & Reviews
The landmark first novel of one of the greatest living Latin American writers — now in a sparkling new translation by his longtime collaborator
When it was first published in 2006, then-literary critic and poet Alejandro Zambra's first novel, Bonsai, caused a sensation. "It was said," according to Chile's newspaper of record, El Mercurio, "that it represented the end of an era, or the beginning of another, in the nation's letters." Zambra would go on to become a writer of international renown, winning prizes in Chile and around the world for his funny, tender, sly fictions.
Here, in a brilliant new translation from four-time International Booker Prize nominee Megan McDowell, is the little book that started it all: The story of Julio and Emilia, two Chilean university students who, seeking truth in great literature, find one another instead. As they fall together and drift apart over the course of young adulthood, Zambra spins an emotionally engrossing, expertly distilled, formally inventive tale of love, art, and memory.
Review
"Readers who consider Roberto Bolaño the pole star of contemporary Chilean fiction will be jolted by Zambra's little book….Zambra is indeed the herald of a new wave of Chilean fiction." The Nation
Review
"A subtle, eerie, ultimately wrenching account of failed young love….A total knockout." The New York Times Book Review
Review
"What is remarkable about Zambra's novella is the space between ending and beginning — the progressive prose that relates a true story with emotional and artistic implications extending far beyond its concise pages." Bookslut
About the Author
Alejandro Zambra is the author of Multiple Choice; My Documents, a finalist for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award; and three other works of fiction: Chilean Poet, Ways of Going Home, and The Private Lives of Trees. The recipient of numerous literary prizes in Chile and around the world, as well as a Cullman Center Fellowship, he has had stories published in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Paris Review, and Harper's, among others. He lives in Mexico City.
Megan McDowell (translator) is the recipient of a 2020 Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, among other awards, and has been short- or long-listed three times for the Booker International prize.