RaveAsymptote...heartfelt ... translated with sleight of hand from Spanish by Megan McDowell ... Without a doubt, it is his best work yet, generously infused with nostalgic tenderness, original humor, and Zambraesque storytelling vitality. Only a writer like Zambra—whose love for literature, insight into human vulnerability, and understanding of tumultuous history were expansively illustrated in his previous works—could have written Chilean Poet ... The intersection of familial and literary lives is infused with heartrending drama ... the novel is at once an emotionally resonant story about human relationship, and the procedural depiction of writing a novel about Chilean poets ... Regardless, both Zambra’s straightforward prose and his experimental poems all read naturally, thanks to McDowell’s astute translation.
