The 2011 Roberto Bolaño Reading Challenge

You are cordially invited to join the 2011 Roberto Bolaño Reading Challenge. There is no initiation ceremony. The challenge starts on January 1, 2011.

The goal is to read Bolaño's books in any format (book, audio, ebook) and in any language (translation or original Spanish). Titles in English are listed in the left panel.

There are 14 available titles in English to date, including the book of interviews. Four Three translated titles are coming in 2011 - a book of essays and criticism (Between Parentheses), a novel (The Third Reich), a prose collection (The Secret of Evil), and a poetry collection (Tres). In addition, the posthumous novel Los sinsabores del verdadero policía is published early this year in Spanish.

Books by Bolaño that you have previously read can be counted in your total books read. There is a separate category for rereads.

You only need to finish the remaining unread books for the category on first-time reads. You can "worm" your way into the challenge by reading at least 2 books by Bolaño published this year.

You can join in any of the 2 categories or in both. You can adjust your level of target reads as you go. Links to participating blogs will be added in this blog.

TO JOIN:

You can join the challenge by replying to this post containing the following information: your name and link to your blog/website if you have one. You may also mention your current reading level ("new" if you haven't read a single book by Bolaño) and your target reading category and level for this year.

You can also join by sending an email to XXXXXXXXX. Send any of your questions and inquiries also to this email. My name is Rise. I'm hosting this challenge for the first time. Let's discover and rediscover the visceral writings of one of the critically and popularly acclaimed writers in Latin America.

Category 1 (First-time reads, books read before 2011 will count)

  

Levels: 

Mesmerist: 1 book read

Critic: 3 books read
Vagabond: 5 books read

Poet: 7 books read

Detective: 10 books read

Godzilla: 13 or more books read

Worm: 2 books published in 2011 read

Category 2 (Rereads)

Levels:

Pierre Pain: 1 book reread

Lalo Cura: 3 books reread 

Arturo Belano: 5 books reread

BADGES: You can download the above images for your own blog. Just right-click and save the image to your computer. You can resize them.


TO ENTER REVIEWS: Reply below this page or send links and titles to XXXXXXXXX.


This page will link you to submitted reviews.

This page provides answers to frequently asked questions.


¡Feliz año nuevo!


Badge photo credit: Gerardo Suter (detail from A Night Visitor, 1987).