Blow-up, and other stories

Julio Cortázar

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Feb 12, 1985 - Fiction - 277 pages

A young girl spends her summer vacation in a country house where a tiger roams...A man reading a mystery finds out too late that he is the murderer's victim...In the stories collected here -- including "Blow-Up;' on which Antonioni based his film -- Julio Cortazar explores the boundary where the everyday meets the mysterious, perhaps even the terrible. This is the most brilliant and celebrated book of short stories by a master of the form.

What people are saying

Review: Blow-Up and Other Stories

User Review  - Matt - Goodreads

"House Taken Over" is my favourite short story ever.

Review: Blow-Up and Other Stories

User Review  - Jeremy - Goodreads

Cortazar's craft as a short story writer is staggering. Even when I wasn't completely engaged by the characters and situations, it was hard not to be blown away by his sinuous, rhythmic way of turning ...

Contents

• Axolotl: 3
• House Taken Over: 10
• The Distances: 17

About the author

Julio CortAA zar was born in Brussels, Belgium, of Argentine parents abroad on business. When he was four years old, his family returned to Buenos Aires, where he grew up in a suburb. CortAA zar attended the Escuela Normal de Profesores Mariano Acosta, a teachers' training college. In 1935 he received a degree as a secondary-level teacher. He studied then two years at the University of Buenos Aires and taught in secondary schools in BolAAvar, Chivilcoy, and Mendoza. In 1944-45 he was a professor of French literature at the University of Cuyo, Mendoza. CortAA zar joined there a protest against Peron and was briefly imprisoned. After being released CortAA zar left his post at the university. From 1946 to 1948 he was a director of a publishing company in Buenos Aires. He passed examinations in law and languages and worked then as a translator. In 1951, in opposition to Peron's regime, CortAA zar travelled to Paris, where he lived until his death. In 1953 he married Aurora BernAA rdez. They separated and CortAA zar lived with Carol Dunlop in later years. From 1952 he worked for UNESCO as a freelance translator. He translated among others Robinson Crusoe and stories of Edgar Allan Poe into Spanish - Poe's influence is also evident in his work.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Blow-up, and other stories; Pantheon modern writers
• Author: Julio Cortázar
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1985
• ISBN: 0394728815, 9780394728810
• Length: 277 pages
• Subjects: Argentina; Argentina - Social life and customs - Fiction; Cortazar, Julio - Translations into English; Fiction / Short Stories; Fiction / Short Stories (single author)