Juan J. Arreola, 83; Nationalist Mexican Author

Juan Jose Arreola, a nationalist Mexican author known for vivid short stories that used fantasy to tell tales of self-discovery, has died at 83, his son said.

Orso Arreola told reporters that his father died Monday night at his Guadalajara home of cardiac failure related to a case of hydrocephalus that had left him bedridden since 1998.

Born in Ciudad Guzman in Mexico’s western state of Jalisco, Arreola never finished elementary school but taught himself how to read.

After working as a bookbinder’s apprentice, he landed a job as a reporter at the Ciudad de Carmen newspaper El Vigia in 1941. Arreola briefly taught high school history and literature and then became head of circulation for the Guadalajara newspaper El Occidental.

In Guadalajara, Arreola became friends with writer Juan Rulfo. Today one of Mexico’s most celebrated authors, Rulfo’s stories used fantasy worlds to chronicle the frustration many Mexicans felt after the revolution of 1910 failed to break up much of the country’s ruling class. Arreola would later adopt Rulfo’s style in his own nationalistic works.

Arreola’s literary career began with the publication of the short story “Hizo el Bien Mientras Vivio,” or “He Did Good While He Lived,” in the magazine Eos in 1943.

In 1945, Arreola won a scholarship to study in Paris. Upon his return, he completed work on a short story titled “Varia Invencion,” or “Diverse Inventions,” in which he used a collage of poetry and prose to weave a single story. The work redefined Mexican literature, spawning a genre that became known simply as “Varia Invencion.”

Arreola again explored the notion of using several voices to tell a common story with “La Feria,” or “The Fair,” published in 1962. The work used several protagonists to offer differing views on the division of wealth in post-revolutionary Mexico.

Arreola published 16 books of short stories and won Mexico’s National Linguistics and Literature Prize in 1976. He later won the Juan Rulfo Prize for Latin American and Caribbean Literature. France honored him as an Officer of Arts and Letters.

In one of his last public roles, Arreola served as a TV commentator during the 1994 World Cup in the United States.