It will come as a surprise to some readers that the greater part of Jorge Luis Borges's extraordinary writing was not in the genres of fiction or poetry, but in the various forms of non-fiction prose. His thousands of pages of essays, reviews, prologues, lectures, and notes on politics and culturethough revered in Latin America and Europe as among his finest workhave scarcely been translated into English.
WINNER National Book Critics Circle Awards
“Dizzying in scope and dazzling in execution . . . Should throw even the most dedicated Borges fan for a loop.” —The New Yorker
“Superb . . . Indispensable to both the longtime Borges reader and the newcomer.” —The Wall Street Journal
“Intelligently selected and magically translated . . . Borges’s uniqueness in 20th-century letters is rooted in an almost monstrous combination: encyclopedic knowledge, razorlike critical judgment and a ravishing appreciation for the magical and pagan dimension in every situation.” —The New York Times
“A remarkable achievement, offering the general reader and Borges aficionados alike a rapturous glimpse into one of literature’s most fertile and original minds.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“If any recent essay collection can be considered revelatory, it is Borges’s Selected Non-Fictions.” —Phillip Lopate, Lingua Franca
“Sheer delight . . . Witty and elaborate, in turn intimate and magisterial . . . His is the literature of eternity.” —Peter Ackroyd, The Times (London)
“A cornucopia of wit, wisdom and critical insights.” —George Steiner, The Times Literary Supplement
“Beautifully translated and scrupulously edited . . . This book will in turn illuminate and puzzle, excite admiration and exasperation. Borges would be delighted with such a result.” —The Spectator
“A genuine addition to the Borges canon . . . Borges’s bravura performances raise criticism to the power of poetry and are as exciting and imaginative as his celebrated verse and fiction.” —The Daily Telegraph
“Selected Non-Fictions is the most important volume of Borges’s writings to appear since Ficciones. . . . This volume should become as essential to the English-language canon as those by Eliot and Pound.” —Roberto González Echevarría, Yale University
“Borges’s essays are unforgettable, most of all for their originality, their diversity, and for the writing itself. Humor, restraint, insight—and then, suddenly, something bizarre . . . All comparisons are deceptive: Borges, above all, resembles Borges.” —Octavio Paz
Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) was an Argentine poet, essayist, and author of short stories. His most notable works as a key literary Spanish-language figure of the twentieth century include Ficciones (Fictions) and El Aleph (The Aleph). He received a BA from the College of Geneva. He was also appointed the director of the National Public Library and professor of English literature at the University of Buenos Aries in 1955. During his lifetime, Borges received the first Prix International Formentor Prize which he shared alongside Samuel Beckett in 1961. He also received the Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society in 1971.
View titles by Jorge Luis Borges
It will come as a surprise to some readers that the greater part of Jorge Luis Borges's extraordinary writing was not in the genres of fiction or poetry, but in the various forms of non-fiction prose. His thousands of pages of essays, reviews, prologues, lectures, and notes on politics and culturethough revered in Latin America and Europe as among his finest workhave scarcely been translated into English.
Awards
WINNER National Book Critics Circle Awards
Reviews
“Dizzying in scope and dazzling in execution . . . Should throw even the most dedicated Borges fan for a loop.” —The New Yorker
“Superb . . . Indispensable to both the longtime Borges reader and the newcomer.” —The Wall Street Journal
“Intelligently selected and magically translated . . . Borges’s uniqueness in 20th-century letters is rooted in an almost monstrous combination: encyclopedic knowledge, razorlike critical judgment and a ravishing appreciation for the magical and pagan dimension in every situation.” —The New York Times
“A remarkable achievement, offering the general reader and Borges aficionados alike a rapturous glimpse into one of literature’s most fertile and original minds.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“If any recent essay collection can be considered revelatory, it is Borges’s Selected Non-Fictions.” —Phillip Lopate, Lingua Franca
“Sheer delight . . . Witty and elaborate, in turn intimate and magisterial . . . His is the literature of eternity.” —Peter Ackroyd, The Times (London)
“A cornucopia of wit, wisdom and critical insights.” —George Steiner, The Times Literary Supplement
“Beautifully translated and scrupulously edited . . . This book will in turn illuminate and puzzle, excite admiration and exasperation. Borges would be delighted with such a result.” —The Spectator
“A genuine addition to the Borges canon . . . Borges’s bravura performances raise criticism to the power of poetry and are as exciting and imaginative as his celebrated verse and fiction.” —The Daily Telegraph
“Selected Non-Fictions is the most important volume of Borges’s writings to appear since Ficciones. . . . This volume should become as essential to the English-language canon as those by Eliot and Pound.” —Roberto González Echevarría, Yale University
“Borges’s essays are unforgettable, most of all for their originality, their diversity, and for the writing itself. Humor, restraint, insight—and then, suddenly, something bizarre . . . All comparisons are deceptive: Borges, above all, resembles Borges.” —Octavio Paz
Author
Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) was an Argentine poet, essayist, and author of short stories. His most notable works as a key literary Spanish-language figure of the twentieth century include Ficciones (Fictions) and El Aleph (The Aleph). He received a BA from the College of Geneva. He was also appointed the director of the National Public Library and professor of English literature at the University of Buenos Aries in 1955. During his lifetime, Borges received the first Prix International Formentor Prize which he shared alongside Samuel Beckett in 1961. He also received the Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society in 1971.
View titles by Jorge Luis Borges
