HopscotchA Novel (Pantheon Modern Writers Series)
Julio Cortazar - 1987-02-12 (first published in 1963)
Follow Horacio Oliveira, an Argentine writer living in Paris with his mistress and bohemian friends, as he embarks on a life-changing journey prompted by a child's death and La Maga's disappearance, leading him to return to Buenos Aires. Hopscotch is an adventure-filled tale heavily influenced by Henry Miller's search for truth and Zen Buddhism. Cortázar's use of interior monologue, punning, and different languages is reminiscent of Modernist writers while drawing inspiration from Surrealism, the French New Novel, jazz, and New Wave Cinema. The National Book Award-winning translation by Gregory Rabassa earned high praise from Cortázar, who recommended the translator to Gabriel García Márquez.