Premium Episode 70 - Bolaño’s Distant Star, or, It Takes a Poet to Catch a Poet, feat. Dani and Rodolfo

[originally published on Patreon Aug 25, 2023]

Today I'm joined by Dani and Rodolfo to discuss three Bolaño novels: the Third Reich, Distant Star, and By Night in Chile. In this episode, we discuss Distant Star. In this novel, Bolaño examines the fascist mindset via the specifically Chilean context of the 1973 coup, Pinochet's Chile, death squads, and the New Chilean poetry.

Note: although this may just be Bolaño's literary invention, there was a skywriter present during the PBSUCCESS invasion in Guatemala, though he was not a poet (or serial killer) but a used car salesman from the US.

episode art by Robert Voyvodich @r.voy__

Songs:

Luchar y Vencer - FSLN Song

Alerta Antifascista by Sin Dios

Manifiesto by Victor Jara