THE SKATING RINK - Scarce Pristine Copy of The First American Edition/First Printing

Bolano, Roberto (Translated by Chris Andrews)

ISBN 10: 0811217132 / ISBN 13: 9780811217132

Published by New York City, NY: New Directions, 2009, 2009

About this Item

1st Printing. 182 pages. Published in 2009. The author's ninth book to be translated into English. Now considered a contemporary classic. The first appearance of the title in English and in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Roberto Bolano's "The Skating Rink" in a felicitous English translation. A hair-raising book. "Delivers Bolano's signature mix of mordant wit and romantic tenderness, 'The Skating Rink' is both a crime and a love story" (Publisher's blurb). What exactly is Roberto Bolano's achievement? "He emerged as a writer at a time when Latin America no longer believed in utopias, when paradise had become hell, and that sense of monstrousness and waking nightmares and constant flight from something horrid permeates '2666' and all his work. A writer who worked without a net, who went all out, with no brakes, and in doing so, created a new way to be a great Latin American writer" (Rodrigo Fresan). The consistently high level of Bolano's virtuosity is almost miraculous when one sees it as having been achieved during a brief and miserable personal life. It was as though he turned to literature not just to complement or complete but to change his life altogether. By the time of his untimely death in 2003 at the age of 50, Bolano was universally regarded as the greatest Spanish-language novelist of our time. "The real thing and the rarest" (Susan Sontag). An absolute "must-have" title for Roberto Bolano collectors. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing (American) still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online were badly damaged because of shoddy packing and poor handling. A scarce copy thus. One of the greatest writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER ROBERTO BOLANO TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 0811217132. Seller Inventory # 14794

Bibliographic Details

Title: THE SKATING RINK - Scarce Pristine Copy of ...

Publisher: New York City, NY: New Directions, 2009

Publication Date: 2009

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: As New

Dust Jacket Condition: As New

Signed: no

Edition: 1st Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

“He is by far the most exciting writer to come from South of the Rio Grande in a long time.” ―Ilan Stavans, Los Angeles Times

Set in the seaside town of Z, on the Costa Brava, north of Barcelona, The Skating Rink oscillates between two poles: a camp ground and a ruined mansion, the Palacio Benvingut. The story, told by three male narrators, revolves around a beautiful figure skating champion, Nuria Martí. When she is suddenly dropped from the Olympic team, a pompous but besotted civil servant secretly builds a skating rink in the ruined Palacio Benvingut, using public funds. But Nuria has affairs, provokes jealousy, and the skating rink becomes a crime scene. A mysterious pair of women, an ex-opera singer and a taciturn girl often armed with a knife, turn up as well.

A complex book, The Skating Rink’s short chapters are skillfully broken off with questions to maintain the narrative tension: Who was murdered? Who was the murderer? Will the murderer be caught? All of these questions are answered, and yet The Skating Rink is not fundamentally a crime novel, or not exclusively; it’s also about political corruption, sex, the experience of immigration, and frustrated passion. And it’s an atmospheric chronicle of one summer season in a seaside town, with its vacationers, its drifters, its businessmen, bureaucrats and social workers.

About the Author:

Author of 2666 and many other acclaimed works, Roberto Bolano (1953-2003) was born in Santiago, Chile, and later lived in Mexico, Paris, and Spain. He has been acclaimed “by far the most exciting writer to come from south of the Rio Grande in a long time” (Ilan Stavans, The Los Angeles Times),” and as “the real thing and the rarest” (Susan Sontag). Among his many prizes are the extremely prestigious Herralde de Novela Award and the Premio Rómulo Gallegos. He was widely considered to be the greatest Latin American writer of his generation. He wrote nine novels, two story collections, and five books of poetry, before dying in July 2003 at the age of 50.

The poet Chris Andrews teaches at the University of Western Sydney, Australia, where he is a member of the Writing and Society Research Centre. He has translated books by Roberto Bolano and César Aira for New Directions. He has won the Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize for his poetry and the Valle-Inclan Prize for his translations.