The Pursuer
What is the author's style in The Pursuer by Julio Cortazar?
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Johnny Carter's character is in many ways meant to refer to the alto saxophonist Charlie Parker. In fact, the details of Johnny's life, including the years of his travels, his drug habits, his musical style, and his relationship with a rich friend and benefactor, suggest that Johnny may actually represent Charlie Parker. But "The Pursuer" uses a fictional medium to approach the famous jazz musician, and Johnny is presented as a fictional character, so in this sense the story is not strictly biographical fiction, but fiction inspired by real persons and events. As Cortázar makes clear by describing Bruno's biography of Johnny, telling the story of a person's life in the format of a biography often fails to actually capture someone's life. But the fictional dramatization of loosely biographical material reveals Cortázar's experimentation with a new and better way of recording the essence of a real person.
The Pursuer