The Insufferable Gaucho

“Excellent . . . ‘The Insufferable Gaucho’ is one of Bolaño’s most powerful fictions.” —The New York Times Book Review An aging Buenos Aires judge retires to the family ranch in the Pampas to battle feral rabbits and reclaim the dignity of the gaucho life. A detective investigates a series of grisly murders—among his fellow sewer rats. An obscure Argentinian novelist journeys to Paris to face down the filmmaker who has been plagiarizing his work for years. Riffing on Borges and Kafka yet utterly and inimitably Bolaño, the stories of The Insufferable Gaucho are a testament to his mastery of the short form. Plus: two of his most provocative and piercing essays, crackling with his signature black humor and incomparable powers of perception and critique.