Julio Cortázar 
Cronopios and Famas (New Directions Classic) 

Cronopios and Famas is one of the best-loved books by Julio Cortázar, one of the greatest of Latin American novelists.

‘The Instruction Manual, ‘ the first chapter, is an absurd assortment of tasks and items dissected in an instruction-manual format. ‘Unusual Occupations, ‘ the second chapter, describes the obsessions and predilections of the narrator’s family, including the lodging of a tiger-just one tiger- ‘for the sole purpose of seeing the mechanism at work in all its complexity.’ Finally, the ‘Cronopios and Famas’ section delightfully characterizes, in the words of Carlos Fuentes, ‘those enemies of pomposity, academic rigor mortis and cardboard celebrity-a band of literary Marx Brothers.’ As the
Saturday Review remarked: ‘Each page of
Cronopios and Famas sparkles with vivid satire that goes to the heart of human character and, in the best pieces, to the essence of the human condition.’

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Paul Blackburn (November 24, 1926–September 13, 1971) was an American poet. He influenced contemporary literature through his poetry, translations and the encouragement and support he offered to fellow poets.