Bolaño was a major figure in Latin American literature who died in 2003; he is relatively unknown in the UK, but Picador are aiming to change that, with a major PR and marketing campaign for this visionary novel, regarded as his masterpiece. Epic in scope, it is set in a fictional city on the US-Mexican border, spanning a 20th century of corruption, violence and decadence. 'Bolaño makes you feel changed for having read him; he adjusts your angle of view on the world' }Guardian{