Cortázar, Julio [key], 1914–84, Argentine novelist, poet, essayist, and short-story writer, b. Brussels. Moving permanently to France in 1951, Cortázar gradually gained recognition as one of the century's major experimental writers. His works reflect the influence of French surrealism, psychoanalysis, and his love of both photography and jazz, along with his strong commitment to revolutionary Latin American politics. Widely considered his masterpiece, Hopscotch, (1963; tr. 1966) creates a world full of fantasy and satire, where eroticism, humor, and play offer solace for life's cruelty and despair. His other works include End of the Game (1956; tr. 1967), Sixty-two: A Model Kit (1972; tr. 1972), All Fires the Fire and Other Stories (tr. 1973), and A Change of Light and Other Stories (tr. 1980).
See studies by S. Boldy (1980), A. Hernandez del Castillo (1981), T. Peavler (1990), and J. Rodríguez-Luis (1991).
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