Julio Cortazar, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, Octavio Paz, Cesar Vallejo, and Pablo Neruda are among the scores of writers who flocked to Paris during a twentieth-century wave of Latin American pilgrimage. The rich blend of international cultures, ideas, personalities, and passions cultivated in the City of Light generated an explosion of artistic exploration and creativity. Drawing upon literary analysis, historical overview, and personal interviews, The Lights of Home illuminates why so many Latin American writers chose to stay in Paris for much of their adult lives, what the experience meant for them, and how it informed their work.