The myths: “He was a heroin addict. He never did drugs. Hepatitis C, contracted from dirty needles, damaged his liver. He was arrested under suspicion of terrorism in Pinochet’s Chile … He was never in Chile.” The reality? “It’s also obvious that he never used heroin and that his drink of choice was tea.” Lisa Locascio looks at a new exhibition of Bolaño’s archives and recounts her own research trip to the Catalan town he called home.