A chapter in The Spirit of Science Fiction that's a great intro to Bolano's work

A chapter about 3/4 through Roberto Bolano's novel The Spirit of Science Fiction (2006, published posthumously - don't let the title put you off, this is not science fiction nor is it about scifi) shows all that's right w/ RB's style and sensibility and is worth reading all by itself - and would be a good entry point for those curious about RB's many novels and stories. The narrator (Remo) and his friend (Jose) are wheeling J's broken-down Honda motorcycle along the near-deserted post-midnight back streets of Mexico City; rain threatens them, and J suggests the stop by at the tiny dwelling of his friend who lives in Spartan squalor in his motorcycle-repair garage. The place is tiny, and the friend El M (something) he goes by, admits that he's not too good as a mechanic and in essence runs a front for purchase and sale of stolen cycles. The guys settle in for a night of drinking Nescafe (the dwelling has nothing approaching a kitchen) and inevitably discussion of poetry - El M reads a few of his pieces (not included in the text). Then he suggests selling one of his stolen cycles to the narrator; they set up  some simple terms of repayment - it's clear that El M does not expect to see these payments; El M offers to sand off the name and markings on the cycle so that it will not be so easy to ID it as stolen. Remo not only doesn't have a license (too young!) but he has no idea how to drive a cycle. Nevertheless, terrified, he takes off alongside the more skillful J and they head into the night, or predawn actually, of Mexico City, carrying on a conversation at time, stopping once so that Remo can call (at about 4 am!) his new girlfriend, Lauren (?) and declare his love for her, and eventually at daybreak Remo is home. All told it's a beautiful, brief account of the city at night, or the daring and risky behavior of youth, of the lives of aspiring artists and intellectuals, of the impulsive optimism of youth when everything is new and exciting and impossible, and of the hint of the dangerous underground, somewhat illicit commerce and barter that's the lifeblood of the economy of the young.