Distant Star

By: Roberto Bolaño

Published by Picador, 2026-04-07

"[One of] his masterpieces." - Jonathan Lethem, The New York Times Book Review

Alberto Ruiz-Tagle was once a quiet, unknowable, unpromising member of Chile's young poetry scene.

But the military coup of 1973 sees Alberto reborn as the new regime's leading poet, Carlos Wieder. Known for his daring sky poems, penned in smoke high above the cities, Weider's dazzling trajectory is a cause for astonishment and speculation among his old poetry friends. Where did this monstrous talent suddenly spring from? And how is it connected to the disappearance of the beautiful Garmendia twins?

Told from across the years in exile in Europe, the narrator's attempts to trace the fate of his old circle will lead him to one last confrontation with the brutality of their generation.