''Woes of the True Policeman'' (''Los sinsabores del verdadero policía'' in Spanish) is a

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

written by

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an author

Roberto Bolaño Roberto Bolaño Ávalos (; 28 April 1953 – 15 July 2003) was a Chilean novelist, short-story writer, poet and essayist. In 1999, Bolaño won the Rómulo Gallegos Prize for his novel ''Los detectives salvajes'' (''The Savage Detectives' ...

and published posthumously. The novel was first released in Spanish in 2011.

Larry Rohter William Lawrence Rohter, Jr. (born February 3, 1950), known as Larry Rohter, is an American journalist who was a South American bureau chief (based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) for ''The New York Times'' from 1999 to 2007. Previously, he was Caribbe ...

in his review of the English translation in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' said "The novel offers readers plot lines and characters that supplement or propose variations on Mr. Bolaño’s 900-page magnum opus, ''

2666 ''2666'' is the last novel by Roberto Bolaño. It was released in 2004, a year after Bolaño's death. It is over 1100 pages long in Spanish, and almost 900 in its English translation, it is divided into five parts. An English-language translat ...

''". An English-language translation by

Natasha Wimmer Natasha Wimmer (born 1973) is an American translator best known for her translations of Chilean novelist Roberto Bolaño's ''2666'' and ''The Savage Detectives'' from Spanish into English. Wimmer learned Spanish in Spain, where she spent four yea ...

was published in the US on November 13, 2012, by

Farrar, Straus and Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...

. An editorial note appended to the book by Bolaño’s widow describes it as “a project that was begun in the 1980s and continued to be a work in progress up until the year 2003 ..this edition was undertaken with the unwavering intent to respect Bolaño’s work and the firm pledge to offer the reader the novel as it had been found in his files.”

Sections

The sections of the novel found on Bolaño's computer were organized into four numbered folders each with a title and page count: # Amalfitano and Padilla, 165 pages # Rosa Amalfitano, 39 pages # Pancho Monje, 26 pages # J.M.G. Archimboldi, 38 pages. Another folder titled "Cowboy Graveyard" contained 8 more chapters.Carolina López, "Editorial Note", ''Woes of the True Policeman'', Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012. page 249. In the published novel the material was arranged into five sections:

I. The Fall of the Berlin Wall

To avoid a scandal involving his homosexual relationships with the poet Padilla and others, Óscar Amalfitano is forced to resign from the University of Barcelona and moves with his daughter Rosa to Santa Teresa, Mexico. While the general outline is similar to Amalfitano's story in ''2666'', there are major differences including his being a widower (in ''2666'' his wife had run off), his alienation from his daughter, and his homosexual tendencies.

II. Amalfitano and Padilla

Amalfitano settles in Santa Teresa, meets the painter Castillo, and exchanges letters with Padilla.

III. Rosa Amalfitano

Rosa's new life in Santa Teresa.

IV. J.M.G. Archimboldi

A review of Archimboldi's life and works, including a bibliography, summaries of 7 novels, and short chapters on his friendships, epistolary relationships, hobbies, and enemies. There are significant differences between this character and ''2666s Benno von Archimboldi, not the least of which are their different nationalities (French and German, respectively).

V. Killers of Sonora

Mostly focused on Pancho Monje who joins the Santa Teresa police force and is asked to tail Amalfitano, and a continuation of Padilla's letters to Amalfitano. Pancho Monje's family history is nearly identical to that of ''2666s Lalo Cura.

References

{{Works by Roberto Bolaño 2012 Chilean novels Spanish-language books Works by Roberto Bolaño Novels published posthumously Editorial Anagrama books Novels with gay themes