Nazi Literature in the Americas

by Roberto Bolaño

Bolaño's book from 1996 is a very strange piece of fiction.  It's set up as an encyclopedia, gathering the lives of what he calls 'Nazi' writers from across North and South America.  All of these people are fictional, as are many of the people they interacted with, although there are enough references to real-world literary figures from the post-war to contemporary period as to ground the work in the actual.

The entries vary in length - there are about thirty - and are subdivided into a variety of sections with titles such as 'Wandering Women of Letters', and 'Magicians, Mercenaries and Miserable Creatures'.  The authors and poets Bolaño has created are not all Nazis per se, but they are right-wing in their politics and world views, and are frequently monstrous.

Reading the entries can be, at times, as engaging as reading an Encyclopedia Britannica, as Bolaño focuses on publication order and professional connections, but at other times he surprises with some literary flourishes and smart turns of phrase.  Frequently, the best part of each entry was the last sentence.  "She remained lucid (or "furious," as she liked to say) to the end" is how he finishes the life of Edelmira Thompson de Mendiluce, the book's inaugural Nazi (and one of the few with direct ties to the Party).  "Death found [Max Mirebalais, he of the many aliases] composing the posthumous works of his heteronyms," is how he finishes off another character.

The book stays pretty true to its form, with indices at the end detailing the secondary figures, publishing houses, and books referenced throughout the novel. The last biography, of Ramírez Hoffman, is completely different from the rest of the book, and has Bolaño making an appearance himself, as he helps to track down the skywriting poet who collaborated in Chile's coup of 1973.  This is a fascinating story, and it helps to connect this novel to Bolaño's body of work.

I really enjoyed the humour and creativity brought to this project.  Bolaño has carefully referenced and overlapped his different horrific characters, and made this a pleasure to read simply for its audacity.  While lacking the power of The Savage Detectives or the incredible 2666, it stands as a terrific experiment in the novelistic form.