Bonsai
Alejandro Zambra
Translated by Carolina De Robertis
Winner of Chile’s Literary Critics’ Award for Best Novel, in a sparkling translation by Carolina De Robertis
Hailed as a great Latin American literary event, this stylistically innovative, elliptically told tale of a young man and his love who mysteriously disappears is, as the narrator tells us, “a simple story that becomes complicated.”
Through both the distance and closeness of these young lovers, Alejandro Zambra brilliantly explores the relationship between art, love, and life. Bonsai is accessible yet profound—as one critic in Chile’s Capital newspaper put it, “Brief as a sigh and forceful as a blow.”
PRESS AND REVIEWS
“One of the greatest literary events of recent years.”
—Alfonso Cortínez, Las Últimas Noticias
“An unclassifiable object of unusual beauty . . . one of the best Chilean novels of recent times.”
—David Lacalle, Capital
"Bonsai is an appealing miniature, a novella that, despite its brevity, feels airy and full … an enjoyable, pleasantly surprising, and clever read."
—The Complete Review Link
"Bonsai won the Chilean Critics Award for best novel of the year in 2006…and it's easy to understand why."
—Jonathan Messinger, Time Out Chicago
"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 83 pages."
—Bookslut Link
"...the herald of a new wave of Chilean fiction."
—Marcela Valdez, The Nation Link
"Zambra flexes some serious artistic muscle...."
—Rain Taxi PDF
"...a complex and sophisticated story...."
—The Phoenix (PA) Link
"undeniably fascinating...the kind of story that lingers in the mind for weeks after being read."
—The Quarterly Conversation Link
SEE ALSO
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Bonsai
Alejandro Zambra
Translated by Carolina De Robertis
Fiction / Novella
84 pages / paperback
$13.00 US / $16.00 CAN
ISBN-13: 978-1-933633-62-6
Published: October 2008
