Julio Cortázar was born August 26, 1914, in Belgium. He was the son of Argentine diplomats, and he lived in Belgium, Switzerland, and Spain before moving back to Argentina with his parents. His father left the family when he was six years old, so he lived with his mother and his sister. He was frequently ill as a child. Cortázar grew up and was educated in Argentina, and he eventually taught school there and found work as a translator. He would go on to publish sonnets, short stories, and a play. Eventually, he was forced to leave Argentina due to Juan Perón’s regime, and he moved back to France in 1951. He became a French citizen in 1981 and retained his Argentinian citizenship. He was constantly engaged with political and social causes in Argentina. He traveled and remained in France until his death in 1984. 

Cortázar’s major works include his first short story collection Bestario (“Bestiary”) from 1951 and Final del juego (“End of the Game”) from 1956. His masterpiece was Rayuela (Hopscotch) from 1963, a work which could be described as an open-ended novel, as the reader is invited to rearrange the novel according to a plan given by the author. It gained international acclaim and brought further attention to Latin American literature. Michelangelo Antonioni made a classic film called Blow-Up (1966) inspired by Cortázar’s story “Las babas del Diablo” (“Blow-Up”). Perhaps Cortázar’s most famous short stories are those that, like “Continuidad de los parques” (“Continuity of Parks”) and “Casa tomada” (“House Taken Over”), have a fantastical quality. “Continuity of Parks” (1956) is a representative example of Cortázar’s humor, elegant style, structural daring, and economy. Meanwhile, “House Taken Over” is among Cortázar’s most acute political texts as a direct reaction to Peronism.