Poetry
Most of the characters are poets. There are so many references and mentions to poets that it is evident that part of the preparation for writing this novel Bolaño had to make a sketch of the poets he was interested in mentioning.
The historical issue
The coup d'état and the change of government between Salvador Allende who committed suicide on September 11, 1973, following the coup d'état by Augusto Pinochet backed by the United States navy is an important issue that leads to the existence of characters like Carlo Wider in Chile and that his crimes were possible.
The exile
Arturo Belano narrates from exile the events of Carlo Wider who ends up murdered in Europe at the hands of another exile who is the private detective Romero, we can also see this in the tittle of the novel, Distant Star refers to him being far away from home since the chilean flag is represented by a star.
