Trudell is a freelance writer with a bachelor's degree in English literature. In the following essay, Trudell explores the ways in which Cortázar's short story is a breakthrough in literary style and discusses how it reflects some of the new philosophies and artistic theories of the 1950s.

In her essay "Pursuing a Perfect Present," Doris Sommer observes that Cortázar's linguistic style in "The Pursuer," including his repetitive use of the present perfect verb tense and his tendency to rapidly and often vaguely switch between the past, present, and future tenses, is partly a method of capturing the style of bebop music. Cortázar, himself a great fan of bebop, is clearly interested in applying some of the musical form's most important innovations to a literary context. He recognizes that the "terrible beauty" of a song like Amorous is an important artistic development...