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Bonsai

Translated 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.”

Film trailer:

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ALEJANDRO ZAMBRA is acclaimed as the greatest writer of Chile’s younger generation. He is a poet and critic and currently teaches literature at the Diego Portales University in Santiago. Bonsai is his first novel. It was awarded Chile’s Literary Critics’ Award for Best Novel.

Translator CAROLINA DE ROBERTIS was raised in England, Switzerland, and California by Uruguayan parents. Her fiction and literary translations have appeared in ColorLines, The Virginia Quarterly Review, The Indiana Review, and elsewhere. She is the author of The Invisible Mountain and Perla.

Winner of Chile’s Literary Critics’ Award for Best Novel, and now a major motion picture.

“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

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

“…the herald of a new wave of Chilean fiction.” —Marcela Valdes, The Nation

“Zambra flexes some serious artistic muscle….” —Rain Taxi

“…a complex and sophisticated story….” —The Phoenix (PA)

“ … undeniably fascinating…the kind of story that lingers in the mind for weeks after being read.” —The Quarterly Conversation

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