The Metamorphosis, a novella by Franz Kafka published in 1915, tells the story of a man who awakens one day to discover he has been transformed into an insect.

Labyrinths, Selected Stories and Other Writings, is a 1962 collection by Jorge Luis Borges. Renowned globally as one of the most original and influential writers in modern literature, Borges also served as a mentor to Julio Cortazar.

Evelyn Picon Garfield's 1975 critical study, Julio Cortazar, starts and concludes with personal interviews she conducted with Cortazar at his home in Provence, France. This study serves as an invaluable guide to understanding Cortazar's philosophies, preferences, and even his nightmares, shedding light on much of the symbolism in his work.

Cortazar's 1966 novel Hopscotch is hailed as a modern literary classic. Its protagonist, Horacio Oliveira, aims to fragment his personality so thoroughly that his life becomes a series of disjointed present moments, never forming a coherent whole. He leaves Argentina to join a loosely connected group called "the Club," and later returns to Buenos Aires, taking on various roles such as a salesman, the keeper of a mathematically gifted circus cat, and an attendant in a mental asylum owned by his friends. His life is truly fragmented—marked by detached sensuality and empty pleasures, over which he has lost control.

Cortazar's 1960 novel The Winners narrates the story of the winners of a mystery cruise from a special state lottery. Shortly after their departure from the celebratory dockside café in Buenos Aires, tensions rise among the diverse group of passengers. Isolated from a certain part of the ship, served by a silent and ominous crew, and treated more like prisoners than winners, they divide into two factions: those who seek to uncover the truth and those who prefer to "let sleeping dogs lie."