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Borges, Jorge Luis & Casares, Adolfo Bioy (Translated by Norman Thomas Di Giovanni) : Six Problems For Don Isidro Parodi

E. P. Dutton, New York City, NY, 1981

ISBN 0525204806

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 160 pages. Landmark collection of short fiction. One of the greatest books of the 20th century. The first appearance of the title in English and in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only and as part of the ground-breaking and now-legendary series of translations by Normas Thomas di Giovanni of the author's works, all carried out with Borges' close collaboration. The First Edition is now scarce. A brilliant production by Jim McMullan: Regular-sized volume format. Red-and-white boards with gilt titles on spine, as issued. Short stories by Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares. In pictorial DJ with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Presents Jorge Luis Borges' "Six Problems For Don Isidro Parodi" in a felicitous English translation. Six short stories that represent the first of Jorge Luis Borges' several productive collaborations with Adolfo Bioy Casares. Why has Latin American writers' (such as Roberto Bolano) and our own fascination with Borges endured (long after our interest in his contemporaries and successors passed) ? One answer: Long before the so-called Post-Modernist writers discovered and mined literary genres and sub-genres, Borges was already doing it, without its being named as such. The stories in this collection blend science fiction, the thriller/detective genre, and fantasy as well the essay, autobiography, and literary criticism. Why the conflation of various literary genres? "I do not dare to state that they are simple. There isn't anywhere on earth a single page or single word that is since each thing implies the universe, whose most obvious trait is complexity. The art of writing is mysterious; the opinions we hold are ephemeral" (Jorge Luis Borges). This statement, cited by writers who could not be more different from one another as Gore Vidal, Italo Calvino, and Susan Sontag, all of them luminaries, may well be Borges' artistic credo. This last collection in English translation shows Jorge Luis Borges, together with Alejo Carpentier and Machado de Assis, to be One of the Triumvirate of modern Latin-American literature, revered even by a much more popular figure like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, whose work would not exist without their exemplary influence. "If you read Borges frequently and closely, you become something of a Borgesian, because to read him is to activate an awareness of literature in which he has gone further than anyone else" (Harold Bloom). An absolute "must-have" title for Jorge Luis Borges collectors. This title is a modern classic. This is one of few copies of the First American Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have very serious flaws (soiling, chipping, tears, and price-clipped). However, the watercolor effect on the spine is intentional on the part of the designer, NOT fading at all. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare copy thus. Jorge Luis Borges' body of work is regarded by Harold Bloom, George Steiner, and Susan Sontag as among the canonical works of modern literature. One of the greatest writers of the 20th century. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JORGE LUIS BORGES TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0525204806.

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