The Third Reich

A New York Times Book Review Editors' ChoiceOn vacation with his girlfriend, Ingeborg, the German war-game champion Udo Berger returns to a small town on the Costa Brava where he spent his summers as a child. There, they meet another vacationing German couple, who introduce them to the darker side of the resort town's life. Soon Udo is enmeshed in a round of Third Reich, his favorite World War II strategy game, with a shadowy local called El Quemado. As the game draws to its conclusion, Udo discovers that the outcome may be all too real. Written in 1989, The Third Reich is Roberto Bolano's stunning exploration of memory and violence-and a rare glimpse at a world-class writer coming into his own.