A comprehensive account of Borges's life and work, including his early and late poetry, and his hugely influential short stories.

Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) was one of the great writers of the twentieth century and the most influential author in the Spanish language of modern times. He had a seminal influence on Latin American literature and a lasting impact on literary fiction in many other languages. However, Borges has been accessible in English only through a number of anthologies drawn mainly from his work of the 1940s and 1950s. The primary aim of this Companion is to provide a more comprehensive account of Borges's oeuvre and the evolution of his writing. It offers critical assessments by leading scholars of the poetry of his youth and the later poetry and fiction, as well as of the 'canonical' volumes of the middle years. Other chapters focus on key themes and interests, and on his influence in literary theory and translation studies.

This is the most comprehensive account available of the work of one of the great writers of the twentieth century, by internationally renowned specialists. It includes chapters on Jorge Luis Borges's literary evolution, his hugely influential short stories, and on the extraordinary diversity of his literary themes and interests.

Jorge Luis Borges is one of the key writers of the twentieth century in the context of both Hispanic and world literature. This Companion has been designed for keen readers of Borges whether they approach him in English or Spanish, within or outside a university context. It takes his stories and essays of the forties and fifties, especially Ficciones and El Aleph, to be his most significant works, and organizes its material in consequence. About two thirds of the book analyzes the stories of this period text by text. The early sections map Borges's intellectual trajectory up to the fifties in some detail, and up to his death more briefly. They aim to provide an account of the context which will allow the reader maximum access to the meaning and significance of his work and present a biographical narrative developed against the Argentine literary world in which Borges was a key player, the Argentine intellectual tradition in its historical context, and the Argentine and world politics to which his works respond in more or less obvious ways. STEVEN BOLDY is Reader in Latin American Literature at the University of Cambridge.

Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) is Argentina's most celebrated author. This volume brings together for the first time the numerous contexts in which he lived and worked; from the history of the Borges family and that of modern Argentina, through two world wars, to events including the Cuban Revolution, military dictatorship, and the Falklands War. Borges' distinctive responses to the Western tradition, Cervantes and Shakespeare, Kafka, and the European avant garde are explored, along with his appraisals of Sarmiento, gauchesque literature and other strands of the Argentine cultural tradition. Borges' polemical stance on Catholic integralism in early twentieth-century Argentina is accounted for, whilst chapters on Buddhism, Judaism and landmarks of Persian literature illustrate Borges's engagement with the East. Finally, his legacy is visible in the literatures of the Americas, in European countries such as Italy and Portugal, and in the novels of J. M. Coetzee, representing the Global South.

Gabriel García Márquez is Latin America's most internationally famous and successful author, and a winner of the Nobel Prize. His oeuvre of great modern novels includes One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera. His name has become closely associated with Magical Realism, a phenomenon that has been immensely influential in world literature. This Companion, first published in 2010, includes new and probing readings of all of García Márquez's works, by leading international specialists. His life in Colombia, the context of Latin American history and culture, key themes in his works and their critical reception are explored in detail. Written for students and readers of García Márquez, the Companion is accessible for non-Spanish speakers and features a chronology and a guide to further reading. This insightful and lively book will provide an invaluable framework for the further study and enjoyment of this major figure in world literature.

An obscure Argentine, after writing a few laconic stories on philosophical themes, is miraculously discovered by the French literati and goes on to become one of the most admired writers of the 20th century. Though this may sound like a rather improbable film plot, it is the story of Jorge Luis Borges, a story investigated in detail by Borges' close friend Emir Monegal. Professor Monegal, a Borges confidant for more than 30 years, has been able, as no one else possibly could, to unearth the facts from this legend that Borges has so deftly constructed around himself. The result is a narrative as intriguing as one of Borges' own stories of detection. Monegal traces Borges' development as a writer from its beginnings in the child called Georgie who lived in a rundown neighborhood on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, learning to read English before he could read Spanish, to the winner of the most prestigious international literary prizes. He skillfully links Borges' personal history with his literary production, providing a fascinating account of the unfolding and eventual fruition of a creative genius.--From publisher description.