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Roberto Bolaño, Jim

Roberto Bolaño, Jim

Read Jim and check your comprehension by answering the following questions. Then “submit” your work.

1. How does the narrator describe his friend, Jim?

He is the saddest North American he has ever met.

He is the most optimistic person in Cuba.

He is the most depressed Chicano poet in Mexico.

He is the baldest man in California.

2. How does Jim respond when Mexican street kids ask him what poetry is made of?

He laughs and tells them that poetry is a load of dung.

He looks at them sadly and then turns wordlessly away.

He stares at the clouds and starts throwing up.

He solemnly tells them that it is made of beauty and light.

3. Why does it surprise the narrator that Jim is mugged in Central America?

The narrator had seen Jim brutally beat a few guys bloody on several memorable occasions.

Jim had been a Marine and fought in Vietnam.

Jim has never been to Central America.

Jim teaches kung fu.

4. What is Jim watching when the narrator comes upon him in Mexico City?

Jim is watching a drunk man spout poetry at a wall.

Jim is watching a fire-eater perform.

Jim is watching a young, dark-haired woman sunbathe in the park.

Jim is watching a shark being hacked apart at a street market.

5. The narrator thinks Jim is waiting to get

“barbecued in the street.”

“tarred and feathered.”

“loaded with the circus freaks.”

“heroin for his woman.”