"An intriguing and dreamy portrait of two writers taking different paths in their pursuit of their love of literature, hoping to discover their voices." Publishers Weekly A tale of bohemian youth on the make in Mexico City from a master of contemporary fiction, and a sublime precursor to The Savage Detectives. Two young poets, Jan and Remo, find themselves adrift in Mexico City. Obsessed with poetry, and, above all, with science fiction, they are eager to forge a life in the literary world - or sacrifice themselves to it. Roberto Bolano's The Spirit of Science Fiction is a story of youth hungry for revolution, notoriety, and sexual adventure, as they work to construct a reality out of the fragments of their dreams. But as close as these friends are, the city tugs them in opposite directions. Jan withdraws from the world, shutting himself in their shared rooftop apartment where he feverishly composes fan letters to the stars of science fiction, and dreams of cosmonauts and Nazis. Meanwhile, Remo runs head-first into the future, spending his days and nights with a circle of wild young writers, seeking pleasure in the city's labyrinthine streets, rundown cafes, and murky bathhouses. The Spirit of Science Fiction is a kaleidoscopic work of strange and tender beauty, and a fitting introduction for readers uninitiated into the thrills of Roberto Bolano's fiction. It is an indispensable addition to an ecstatic and transgressive body of work. PRAISE FOR ROBERTO BOLANO "The most influential and admired novelist of his generation." Susan Sontag "When I read Bolano I think: Everything is possible again. To step inside his books is to accustom yourself, as much as is possible, to walking along the edge of an abyss." Nicole Krauss, author of The History of Love and Great House "Roberto Bolano was an exemplary literary rebel. To drag fiction toward the unknown he had to go there himself, and then invent a method with which to represent it." The New York Review of Books "Not since Gabriel Garcia Marquez . . . has a Latin American redrawn the map of world literature so emphatically as Roberto Bolano does . . . It's no exaggeration to call him a genius." The Washington Post Book World