''The Winners'' () is a novel by

Julio Cortázar Julio Florencio Cortázar (26 August 1914 – 12 February 1984; ) was an Argentine and naturalised French novelist, short story writer, poet, essayist, and translator. Known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, Cortázar influenc ...

published in 1960. It was his

first published novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

(though not the first novel he wrote) and was also the first of his books to be published in English in its entirety.

Plot

The winners of a state lottery, a cross section of the citizens of Buenos Aires, have received tickets for a mysterious luxury cruise. Summoned to meet in a popular café and escorted under the cover of darkness to the secret location of their ship, they embark without knowing where they are headed. Within hours the ship stops; the passengers are informed that a disease has broken out among the crew and that they will be confined to a small section of the ship. In suspense, the passengers mull over their pasts and the future, form attachments and suspicions, tell secrets, explore desires. While some of them merely accept their confinement, others are increasingly driven to confront the crew, leading to an outbreak of violence.

Writing and publication

The novel was published in France under the name ''Les Gagnants'' in 1961. The book was reprinted in 1999 as part of the inaugural catalogue of

New York Review Books New York Review Books (NYRB) is the publishing division of ''The New York Review of Books''. Its imprints are New York Review Books Classics, New York Review Books Collections, The New York Review Children's Collection, New York Review Comics, ...

References

1960 Argentine novels Novels by Julio Cortázar Novels set in Buenos Aires Editorial Sudamericana books {{1960s-novel-stub