'This is where the story should end, but life is not as kind as literature.' A journey to Acapulco gradually becomes a descent into the underworld. An elderly South American writer instructs a protégé in the subterfuges of entering work for provincial literary prizes. A litany unfolds, offering sixty-nine reasons why not to dance with Pablo Neruda. 'The melancholy folklore of exile,' as Roberto Bolaño once put it, pervades the fourteen haunting stories of Last Evenings on Earth . Set in the Chilean exile diaspora of Latin America and Europe, and peopled by Bolano's beloved 'failed generation,' this collection was the first to introduce the English-speaking world to Bolaño's immeasurable gifts as a short-story writer. TRANSLATED BY CHRIS ANDREWS 'May be the most haunting and mesmerising collection I have ever read' Daily Telegraph 'It is a shame that Bolaño has no more evenings on earth, his unique voice asserting the importance and exuberance of literature will be sorely missed' Guardian.