In Cortázar's short stories we expect to encounter a multifaceted reality. By depicting a normal setting and conventional characters Cortázar gains our confidence and puts us at ease with his tales. Innocently reading on, we suddenly find ourselves trapped by a strange and sometimes unreal situation, an oneiric and even fantastic turn of events. In this way we are exposed to and at times threatened by another possible but illogical dimension of the apparently routine reality set forth in the stories. From "Casa tomada" (The House Taken Over) and "Lejana" (The Distances) in Bestiario (1951) to "El otro cielo" (The Other Heaven) in Todos los fuegos el fuego (1966) Cortázar has presented us with a view of reality riddled with holes, what I like to call a "Swiss cheese" reality. One of his most famous characters, Johnny of "El perseguidor" (The Pursuer) describes this reality:

That made...