Augusto Monterroso (December 21, 1921 - February 7, 2003) was a Guatemalan writer. December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... is the 38th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Life

Monterroso was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras to an Honduran mother and Guatemalan father. In 1936 his family settled definitively in Guatemala City, where he would remain until early adulthood. Here he published his first short stories and began his clandestine work against the dictatorship of Jorge Ubico. To this end he founded the newspaper El Espectador with a group of other writers. Tegucigalpa IPA: (Tegus for short), population 1,200,000 (2006) (metro area), is the capital of Honduras (together with Comayagüela), and the countrys largest city. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Guatemala City (in full, La Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción; locally known as Guatemala or Guate) is the capital and largest city of the nation of Guatemala. ... Jorge Ubico, President of Guatemala (1931-1944) Jorge Ubico y Castañeda (November 10, 1878; † 14 July 1946) was President of Guatemala from 14 February 1931 to 4 July 1944. ...

He was detained and exiled to Mexico City in 1944 for his opposition to the dictatorial regime. Shortly after his arrival in Mexico, the revolutionary government of Jacobo Arbenz triumphed in Guatemala, and Monterroso was assigned to a minor post in the Guatemalan embassy in Mexico. In 1953 he moved briefly to Bolivia upon being named Guatemalan consul in La Paz. He relocated to Santiago de Chile in 1954, when Arbenz's government was toppled with help from a North American intervention. Nickname: Motto: Ciudad en movimiento Location of Mexico City in central Mexico Coordinates: , Country Federal entity Boroughs The 16 delegaciones Founded c. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán was the democratically-elected, left-wing reformist President of Guatemala. ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the uses of Consul as Chief Magistrate of a (city) state, see Consul. ... Location of La Paz within Bolivia Coordinates: , Country Departament Province Pedro Domingo Murillo Province Founded October 20, 1548 Incorporated (El Alto) 20th century Government  - Mayor Juan Del Granado Area  - City 470 km²  (181. ... Satellite image of Santiago Santiago (full form Santiago de Chile) is the capital of Chile. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 1956 he returned definitively to Mexico City, where he would occupy various academic and editorial posts and execute his work as a writer for the rest of his life.^[1] Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 1988, Augusto Monterroso received the highest honour the Mexican government can bestow on foreign dignitaries, the Águila Azteca. He was also awarded the Spanish Prince of Asturias Award, in 2000. In 1997, Monterroso was awarded the Guatemala National Prize in Literature for his body of work. Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Medal of the Order The Order of the Aztec Eagle (Spanish: Orden del Águila Azteca) is the highest decoration awarded to foreigners in Mexico. ... The Prince of Asturias Awards (Spanish: Premios Príncipe de Asturias, Asturian: Premios Príncipe dAsturies) is a series of annual prizes given in Spain by the Fundación Príncipe de Asturias to individuals, entities, organizations or others from around the world who make notable achievements in the... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... The Miguel Angel Asturias Guatemala National Prize in Literature (officially in Spanish language: Premio Nacional de Literatura Miguel Angel Asturias) is the most important literary award in Guatemala. ...

He died of heart problems at the age of 81, in Mexico City. The heart and lungs, from an older edition of Grays Anatomy. ... Nickname: Motto: Ciudad en movimiento Location of Mexico City in central Mexico Coordinates: , Country Federal entity Boroughs The 16 delegaciones Founded c. ...

Work

Although Monterroso limited himself almost exclusively to the short story form, he is widely considered a central figure in the Latin American "Boom" generation, which was best known for its novelists. As such he is recognized alongside such canonical authors as Julio Cortázar, Carlos Fuentes, Juan Rulfo and Gabriel García Márquez. Latin American literature rose to particular prominence during the second half of the 20th century, largely thanks to the international success of the style known as magical realism. ... Julio Cortázar. ... Carlos Fuentes Carlos Fuentes Macías (born November 11, 1928) is a Mexican writer and one of the best-known living novelists and essayists in the Spanish-speaking world. ... Juan Rulfo (16 May 1917 [not 1918 as he often told people after 1936, see note below] – 7 January 1986) was a Mexican novelist, short story writer, and photographer. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Save for Lo demás es silencio ("The Rest is Silence"), his first and only foray into the form of the novel, Monterroso published only short pieces. He worked throughout his career to perfect the short story form, often delving into analogous genres (most famously the fable) for stylistic and thematic inspiration. Even Lo demás es silencio, however, largely eschews the traditional novelistic form, opting instead for the loose aggregation of various apocryphal short texts (newspaper clippings, testimonials, diary entries, poems) to sketch the "biography" of its fictional main character. For a comparison of fable with other kinds of stories, see Myth, legend, fairy tale, and fable. ...

Monterroso is often credited with writing the world's shortest story, "El Dinosaurio" ("The Dinosaur"), published in Obras completas (Y otros cuentos). The story reads, in its entirety:

Cuando despertó, el dinosaurio todavía estaba allí.

("When [s]he awoke, the dinosaur was still there.")

Carlos Fuentes wrote of Monterroso (referring specifically to The Black Sheep and Other Fables): "Imagine Borges' fantastical bestiary having tea with Alice. Imagine Jonathan Swift and James Thurber exchanging notes. Imagine a frog from Calaveras County who has seriously read Mark Twain. Meet Monterroso."^[2] Carlos Fuentes Carlos Fuentes Macías (born November 11, 1928) is a Mexican writer and one of the best-known living novelists and essayists in the Spanish-speaking world. ... Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Luis Borges (August 24, 1899 – June 14, 1986) was an Argentine writer who is considered to be one of the foremost writers of the 20th century. ... Alice in Wonderland is the widely known and used title for Alices Adventures in Wonderland, a book written by Lewis Carroll -- as well as several movie adaptations of the book -- and is also the setting for several short stories. ... Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (November 30, 1667 – October 19, 1745) was an Irish cleric, satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for Whigs then for Tories), and poet, famous for works like Gullivers Travels, A Modest Proposal, A Journal to Stella, The Drapiers Letters, The Battle of the Books, and... James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894–November 2, 1961) was a U.S. humorist and cartoonist. ... Calaveras County is a county located in Californias Gold Country. ... Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910),[1] better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American humorist, satirist, lecturer and writer. ...

Bibliography

• Obras completas (Y otros cuentos), 1959.

• (trans. Complete Works and Other Stories)

• La oveja negra y demás fábulas, 1969.

• (trans. The Black Sheep and Other Fables)

• Movimiento perpetuo, 1972.

• (trans. Perpetual Motion)

• Lo demás es silencio (La vida y obra de Eduardo Torres), 1978.
• Viaje al centro de la fábula, 1981.
• La palabra mágica, 1983.
• La letra e (Fragmentos de un diario), 1987.
• Esa fauna, 1992. drawings.
• Los buscadores de oro, 1993.
• La vaca, 1998.

References

1. ^ http://cvc.cervantes.es/actcult/monterroso/
2. ^ The Black Sheep and Other Fables, trans. Walter I. Bradbury, New York, Doubleday, 1971.

External links

• Augusto Monterroso on the Guatemalan Literature Webpage