Michelle Heidt Heidt itibaren Brush Creek, AR 72084, Birleşik Devletler
'Axolotl', the first story in the collection, is a small jewel -- through the guise of a lively transformation parable (could have leapt right out of Ovid...), Cortazar playfully convinces the reader to meditate -- briefly and cogently -- on consciousness, and on the quirky obsessions that can add a spicy silver lining to the alienation of life in big cities. The other standout, in my book, is 'End of the Game', with its precise and warm characterization of a group of imaginative suburban kids. 'Blow-up', now the best known of the stories thanks to Antonioni's loose 1966 film adaptation, actually bored me a bit, despite my own photography habit. But the mix of surreal charm and keen-eyed observation in several of the other stories makes this a worthy anthology.