Este ensayo reflexiona sobre las muchas veces conflictivas relaciones entre autor y crítico en el marco del campo literario contemporáneo. Pone especial atención en el denominado “caso Echevarría” (2004), que enfrentó al crítico Ignacio Echevarría con el periódico 'El País' (España) y que acabó provocando su dimisión por una colisión entre intereses culturales, empresariales e incluso ideológicos.
Concluye con un análisis del proyecto literario de Roberto Bolaño y la necesidad poetológica de protegerlo de la crítica, hecho que se narra literariamente en la novela 'Detectives salvajes' (1998) por medio de los personajes Arturo Belano (autor) e Iñaki Echevarne (crítico).

This essay ponders on the relationships between authors and literary critics in the contemporary literary field which is often in a state of conflict. It gives special consideration to the so-called “Echevarría case” (2004), in which the critic Ignacio Echevarría was confronted by the newspaper 'El País' (Spain). This ultimately led to his resignation due to a clash of cultural, economical, as well as ideological interests. It closes with an analysis of Roberto Bolaños literary project and points out the poetological necessity of protecting it from literary criticism, especially considering that the novel 'Detectives salvajes' (1998) is narrated through the characters Arturo Belano (author) and Iñaki Echevarne (literary critic).