Blow-Up and Other Stories (1967) was originally published as End of the Game and Other Stories (1956), shortly after the author had begun living in Paris. The collection of stories, all written in the style of magic realism, explore the topics of family, sex, art, death, murder, and the supernatural. Set in Paris and Argentina and told from the points of view of men and women both young and old, Cortázar's tales embody universal human emotions, experiences, and metaphysical questions across a range of manifestations.
“Axolotls” is the story of a man who regularly visits the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, becomes obsessed with the axolotls there, and eventually realizes he is an axolotl.
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