Who could understand my terror better than you?, or On the order of Bolaño's stories

The stories of Roberto Bolaño are found in four collections, two of which appeared in his lifetime. At least one story – "El contorno del ojo" (The Contour of the Eye") – is still unpublished in book form; it appeared in the online journal 60Watts (via).

All stories in Llamadas telefónicas and Putas asesinas were translated by Chris Andrews and they were contained in Last Evenings on Earth and The Return. Andrews (or his editor, or his publisher) did not use the Spanish titles for the English titles and he rather jumbled the table of contents between the two collections. As a consequence, the dedication pages and epigraphs in the original Spanish books were not preserved in the translations.

When I reread these stories, I plan to follow the original order in the Spanish. If you're curious about which stories appear where, here's the list.

• Llamadas telefónicas

The stories are grouped into three parts. The collection is dedicated to Carolina López and the epigraph is from Chekhov – ¿Quién puede comprender mi terror mejor que usted? (Who could understand my terror better than you?)

1. Llamadas telefónicas

Sensini – in Last Evenings on Earth
Henri Simon Leprince – in Last Evenings on Earth
Enrique Martín – in Last Evenings on Earth
Una aventura literaria – "A Literary Adventure", in Last Evenings on Earth
Llamadas telefónicas – "Phone Calls", in Last Evenings on Earth

2. Detectives

El gusano – "The Grub", in Last Evenings on Earth
La nieve – "Snow", in The Return
Otro cuento Ruso – "Another Russian Tale," in The Return
William Burns – in The Return
Detectives – in The Return

3. Vida de Anne Moore

Compañeros de celda – "Cell Mates", in The Return
Clara – in The Return
Joanna Silvestri – in The Return
Vida de Anne Moore – "Anne Moore's Life", in Last Evenings on Earth

• Putas asesinas

There are two sets of dedication: Para Alexandra Bolaño y Lautaro Bolaño, por las lecciones de vértigo; Para Alexandra Edwards y Marcial Cortés-Monroy, por la amistad. The epigraph is taken from Horace – La demanda acabará en risas y tú te irás libre de cargos. (You laugh and go scot-free.)

El ojo silva – "Mauricio ('The Eye') Silva", in Last Evenings on Earth
Gómez Palacio – in Last Evenings on Earth
Últimos atardeceres en la tierra – "Last Evenings on Earth", in Last Evenings on Earth
Días de 1978 – "Days of 1978", in Last Evenings on Earth
Vagabundo en Francia y Bélgica – "Vagabond in France and Belgium", in Last Evenings on Earth
Prefiguración de Lalo Cura – "Prefiguration of Lalo Cura", in The Return
Putas asesinas – "Murdering Whores", in The Return
El retorno – "The Return", in The Return
Buba – in The Return
Dentista – "Dentist", in Last Evenings on Earth
Fotos – "Photos", in The Return
Carnet de baile – "Dance Card", in Last Evenings on Earth
Encuentro con Enrique Lihn – "Meeting With Enrique Lihn", in The Return



Sources: Convesational Reading (comment); I Just Read About That; online 'copies' of the Spanish books