A Little Lumpen Novelita

2002 novel by Roberto Bolaño

A Little Lumpen Novelita

First edition (Spanish)

Author| Roberto Bolaño
Original title| Una Novelita Lumpen
Translator| Natasha Wimmer
Language| Spanish
Publisher| Mondadori (Spanish)
New Directions (English)

Publication date

| 2002
Publication place| Chile

Published in English

| 2014
Media type| Print
Pages| 128
ISBN| 0811223353

A Little Lumpen Novelita (Una novelita lumpen in Spanish) is a 2002 coming-of-age novel by the Chilean author Roberto Bolaño. In September 2014, New Directions published an English-language translated by Natasha Wimmer. The book is divided into sixteen short chapters, told in first person by the protagonist Bianca, who recalls her childhood, adolescence and early adulthood.

Il Futuro, a 2013 film directed by Alicia Scherson and starring Manuela Martelli and Rutger Hauer, was based on this novel.[citation needed]

## Plot[edit]

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## Reception[edit]

In a starred review, Publishers Weekly's Gabe Habash referred to A Little Lumpen Novelita as "a glittering gem, as maddening and haunting as you'd expect from Bolaño", noting that "even though [it] is not Bolaño's best book, it's still one of the best books of the year." Habash highlights how the book, which is "slightly longer than a chapbook [...,] feels as substantial as a book three times as long, because Bolaño keeps his scope small and frantically explores all the little crawl spaces of the story". Alongside a linear plot, the novel "bends and twists, refusing to be pinned down", which Habash describes as "the book's real draw".[1]

Kirkus Reviews called A Little Lumpen Novelita "a concise but welcome addition to a major writer's canon", highlighting how "its watertight prose (via Wimmer's translation) and themes of criminality and the treatment of women make it of a piece with the writer's grander works".[2]

Booklist also reviewed the novel.[3]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Habash, Gabe (2014-06-02). "A Little Lumpen Novelita by". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
2. ^ "A Little Lumpen Novelita". Kirkus Reviews. 2014-07-22. Archived from the original on 2024-01-15. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
3. ^ "A Little Lumpen Novelita". Booklist. 2014-09-01. Archived from the original on 2024-02-03. Retrieved 2024-02-03.

* v
* t
* e

Works by Roberto Bolaño

Novels|

* The Skating Rink
* Nazi Literature in the Americas
* Distant Star
* The Savage Detectives
* Amulet
* Monsieur Pain
* By Night in Chile
* Antwerp
* A Little Lumpen Novelita
* 2666
* The Third Reich
* Woes of the True Policeman
* The Spirit of Science Fiction

Story collections|

* Last Evenings on Earth
* The Return
* The Insufferable Gaucho
* The Secret of Evil
* Cowboy Graves

Poetry collections|

* The Romantic Dogs
* Tres
* The Unknown University

Characters|

* Benno von Archimboldi
* Arturo Belano

Film adaptations|

* Il Futuro

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