Críticas Magazine

Adriana V. Lopez

Wylie Disses Spain, But Pockets Roberto Bolano
October 19, 2008

 According to the infamous literary agent Anrew Wylie, aka the Jackal, “It’s easier and more serious to do business in the Congo than it is in Spain.” Interviewed at the Frankfurt book fair last week for El Pais’ culture section, it was time he set the record straight for the sake of Spain’s publishing circuit's sanity. Though at the moment, the world's most powerful literary agent represents only three Spanish-language writers (Borges, Cabrera Infante and Muñoz Molina), there were worries that perhaps he wanted more.  Knees were shaking at the rumor that he was going to move his agency from New York to Spain and buy up the prestigious Barcelona-based literary agency Carmen Balcells (who represents practically all the big names in Spanish-language letters) and whoever else this man, who they also call “mad dog,” wanted. Pure gossip, to which he brushed aside as untrue. But he is going to take away the world's current hottest deceased writer from the agency: Roberto Bolaño. The author’s wife Carolina contacted Wylie because Bolaño’s contract with the Balcells agency expires on November 4^th of this year. And it’s been said that there are more unpublished Bolaño manuscripts to sell. Lucky little devil. “It will be fantastic,” says Wylie about acquiring the Chilean author,“it’ll be my birthday and Obama will have won".

Bad boy agent Andrew Wylie.

Posted by Adriana V. Lopez on October 19, 2008 | Comments (1)