Understanding Julio Cortázar, the first comprehensive discussion of his work to be published in English in a decade, recounts the varied literary achievements of one of Latin America's most acclaimed and prolific twentieth-century writers. Taking advantage of the perspective allowed by the time that has elapsed since Cortázar's death in 1984, Peter Standish reassesses the Argentinean's oeuvre, including his posthumous publications. There is considerable discussion of how Cortázar, a man whose controversial persona has often colored criticism of his work, handled the tension between aesthetic and political aims. Standish offers a brief overview of Cortázar's life and a chronological synopsis of his works. Structuring his assessment around metaphors drawn from boxing (one of the writer's special passions), Standish considers Cortázar's plays, stories, novels, political and literary essays and interviews, textual accompaniments to the visual arts, and poetry. Through close readings Standish explores Cortázar's views on literary genres and the creative process. Standish also expounds upon the writer's prominent themes, including the metaphysical anguish of his protagonists as they search for otherness, fail to come to grips with the passage of time, and reject rational and conventional values.