Description

Gonzalo is a frustrated would-be poet in a city full of poets; poets lurk in every bookshop, prop up every bar, ready to debate the merits of Teillier and Millan (but never Neruda – beyond the pale). Then, nine years after their bewildering breakup, Gonzalo reunites with his teen sweetheart, Carla, who is now, to his surprise, the mother of a young son, Vicente. Soon they form a happy sort-of family – a stepfamily, though no such word exists in their language.

In time, fate and ambition pull the lovers apart, but when it comes to love and poetry, what will be Gonzalo’s legacy to his not-quite-stepson Vicente? Zambra chronicles with tenderness and insight the everyday moments – absurd, painful, sexy, sweet, profound – that constitute family life in this bold and brilliant new novel.

Publisher Review

Erotic and erudite, tender and wise, this novel tumbles through Chilean literary history via an intimate portrait of a young artist's yearnings; it will delight every lover and poet alike. -- Preti Taneja A very funny, warm and beautiful novel -- Sheila Heti His clever irony, his lighthearted yet powerful prose, his gift for capturing this life that passes through and yet still escapes us - everything Zambra has already put into practice in his novellas and short stories explodes with vitality in Chilean Poet. Contemporary, ingenious, magnificent -- Samanta Schweblin, author of * Little Eyes * Every beat and pattern of being alive becomes revelatory and bright when narrated by Alejandro Zambra. He is a modern wonder -- Rivka Galchen, author of * Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch * Zambra writes with wit and warmth, and his characters are penned with compassion and humour... An uplifting and at times laugh-out-loud read -- Jo Lateu * New Internationalist * [Chilean Poet] treats the thorny topic of collective identity not as tragedy, but as a familial comedy. Its laughs are forged across languages * New York Times Book Review * A tender and funny story about love, family and the peculiar position of being a stepparent ... [Chilean Poet] broadens the author's scope and quite likely his international reputation * Los Angeles Times * Splendid . . . [it has] one of the best endings to a novel that I have read in years, a scene of beautiful emotional improvisation * Wall Street Journal * The thing that has always made Zambra's writing irresistible (to me, anyway) is his attention to the seemingly inconsequential matters that render our lives so flush with consequence... wonderfully original -- Il'ja Rakos * The Millions * [Zambra is] an artist who does not simply notate the numbing details of daily life but spins the quotidian into art * Vulture * ...cleareyed and tender * Kirkus Reviews * Excruciatingly funny... a highly entertaining, engaging and complex detailing of why words matter -- translated fiction round-up by Michael Cronin * The Irish Times * So convincing, so tenderly wrought, and so laugh-out-loud funny, that one begins to suspect Chilean Poet might be the best thing [Zambra has] ever written... it is, in short, a complete joy -- Jane Graham * Big Issue * A heartwarming comedy about parenthood and poetry... deft, poignant and emotionally acute -- Houman Barekat * FT * Superb... [Zambra is] one of the sharpest writers in Spanish today... Chilean Poet, happily, is accomplished at all it does -- Cal Revely-Calder * Sunday Telegraph * The pursuit of a poetic life becomes the vehicle for a wry and poignant story of masculine self-discovery ... A sharp-eyed, warm-hearted modern-family romance in the vein of a David Nicholls or Nick Hornby from the Southern Cone... [a] genial, shrewd and tender novel -- Boyd Tonkin * ArtsDesk * In this profound, at times absurd and often very funny investigation of family and failure, Zambra proves himself to be an important voice in contemporary Latin American literature * Monocle *