Bonsai [Paperback]

Praise for Alejandro Zambra's Bonsai

“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

"For such a small book to have such well-rendered characters is impressive and this, in the end, is what is essential to the novella. A good novella must impress you with its tiny size and the power of its language."
—The Phoenix (PA)

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

Winner of Chile's Literary Critics' Award for Best Novel

"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

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."

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.

Alejandro Zambra is hailed as the greatest writer of Chile's younger generation. He is a poet and critic, and currently teaches literature at the Diego Partolas University in Santiago. Bonzai is his first novel. It was awarded Chile's Literary Critics' Award for Best Novel.