One of the fathers of the Spanish American short story, Quiroga participated extensively in the modernist movement in Montevideo and later lived in the tropical province of Misiones. Although best known as the author of stories about the jungle that reveal the dangers at every step, he also wrote imaginative fantastic tales among the best of their kind in an area that has produced a great number of such authors. His work, like his life (he eventually committed suicide), is filled with violent tragedy and a sense of foreboding.