Antonio Di Benedetto (1922-1986) was born in Mendoza, Argentina. He began his career as a journalist, writing for the Mendoza paper Los Andes. In 1953 he published his first book, a collection of short stories titled Mundo Animal. Zama was his first novel, followed by El Silenciero, Los Suicidas, and Sonbras, Nada Mas. Over the course of his career, he received numerous honors, including a 1975 Guggenheim Fellowship and decorations from the French and Italian governments, and he earned the admiration of such well-known writers as Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortazar, and Roberto Bolano. In 1976 Di Benedetto was imprisoned and tortured by Argentina's military dictatorship. After his release in 1977, he went into exile in Spain. He returned to Buenos Aires in 1984 and died less than two years later.
