Chilean Poet

In this latest from multi-award-winning Chilean poet and novelist Zambra, Gregorio and Carla break up after a brief stormy affair, but nine years later they rekindle their relationship, but this time Carla brings her precocious son, Vicente, into the mix. The novel’s first half focuses on developing this blended family and on poetaster Gonzalo’s efforts to get published. Then Zambra skips ahead a few years to focus on Vicente’s similar efforts to realize his poetic muse. The separate lives of these step-relatives merge at the end as they reconnect in the roles of teacher and student. Because of the whimsical touches of humor (the kid is addicted to Whiskas) and irreverent parody of poet stereotypes, readers are often left pondering how to evaluate the verses that appear dispersed throughout the pages. The novel’s familial theme resembles Zambra’s earlier Ways of Going Home more than his unconventional Multiple Choice, and translator McDowell succeeds at finding appropriate English equivalents for the profuse Chilean slang.