Julio Cortázar (1914-1984) was born in Brussels, grew up in Argentina, and lived for many years in Paris. His novels and stories include Hopscotch, Blow Up and Other Stories,and End of the Game. »

Alastair Reid is a poet, translator, essayist, and scholar of Latin American literature. He had been on the staff of The New Yorker since 1959 and has translated works by Pablo Neruda and Jorge Luis Borges. Among his many books for children are A Balloon for a Blunderbuss, I Keep Changing, and Millionaires (all illustrated by Bob Gill), and Supposing (illustrated by Abe Birnbaum). In 2008 he published two career-spanning collections of work, Inside Out: Selected Poetry and Translations and Outside In: Selected Prose. »

The Winners

By Julio Cortazar
Translated from the Spanish by Elaine Kerrigan
Introduction by Alastair Reid

The Argentine writer Julio Cortázar, called by Carlos Fuentes the Simon Bolivar of the Latin American novel, was one of the scintillating geniuses of twentieth-century literature—a writer of sly wit and immense sophistication with a keen eye for character and the workings of social life. The Winners is the story of a luxury cruise, bound for an unknown destination, which runs terribly amok. Funny, frightening, lyrical, and humane, it is a deeply satisfying philosophical novel about crossed lives and wayward love, as well as a brilliant meditation on the myth of the New World.

Read the introduction (PDF)


Reviews

[Cortázar] creates a language and a rhythm and sensuality as mysterious and terrible as Melville's but all in his own voice.... The Winners is a novel of ideas that challenges and disturbs the reader and enlarges one's sense of the intricate single human being.
— William Goyen

Also see:

The Invention of Morel
By Adolfo Bioy Casares
Translated from the Spanish by Ruth L.C. Simms
Introduction by Suzanne Jill Levine
Prologue by Jorge Luis Borges

Set on a mysterious island, Bioy's novella is a story of suspense and exploration, as well as a wonderfully unlikely romance, in which every detail is at once crystal clear and deeply mysterious.


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Format: Paperback
Retail Price: $14.95
Price: $11.21 (25% off)


Sep 30, 1999
441 pages
ISBN: 0940322315
9780940322318
All Literature in Translation
NYRB Classics
Literature in Spanish

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