Now I was thinking of something to compare this with and the way my mind works the first thing that struck me was a piece of art. The proustian moment of remembering where they both met and the story began. She said it all comes back at once ,it all comes back so suddenly. They remember what happened along the way til the point their respective lives split. How there lives all intersect in a backdrop of Grunge ,pink music ,drink and drugs and drug addiction. Now in a rather Proustian moment we go back into the history to the early post -Pinochet years of the 90’s and this couple when they first meet at college discovering them selcves ,Chiles past and forging their own ways and Political views ,that at a later date will have a big impact on each of them. Anyway one day they are sat there reading the paper when they discover an article mentioning Javiera a women they both knew when they were studying. ĭead stars ,strangely enough starts of a bit like Marias The infatuations in a cafe ,it is the end of a relationship a couple is using the cafe every time they visit there lawyers to finalize the details of their divorce. Opening both sat at a cafe ,waiting when they read the paper. Those nervous habits were all we had left in those days. She’d be chain-smoking ,and I would shred the skin of my lips with my teeth. We’d be down in the port ,at Hesperia ,cafe 8.30. he has published seven books including four novels. He also got a master’s degree from university of Chile ,where he worked on the website Mariano Aguirre alongside Alejandro Zambra ,also with Zambra he was on Hay festival Bogotá 39 of the best 39 writers under 39. He studied Playa Ancha university before coming a columnist after university. Alvaro Bisama Grew up around Villa Alemana. I said when I reviewed Zenith hotel that so far in 2014 I had read two stunning books ,well this is the second one. Dead stars by Alvaro Bisama Chilean fiction Original title – Estrellas muertas Translator -Megan McDowell Source – Review copy

Estrellas muertas by Álvaro Bisama