The title A Universal History of Infamy derives from the fact that the seven biographical essays are fictionalised accounts of real-life criminals. The 2004 English edition gives the stories slightly different titles. The one I own dates from 1972 and was translated by BorgesвЂ™s long-standing English translator, Norman Thomas di Giovanni. There are two English translations of the book. The 1934 collection was revised and three new stories added in the 1954 edition. Most of the essays had been published individually in the Argentine newspaper CrГtica between 19. eight summaries of stories or anecdotes he had come across in arcane sources and which attracted Borges for their fantastical or humorous aspects.one relatively straightforward short piece of fiction.

seven вЂbiographical essaysвЂ™ вЂ“ witty, ironic accounts of legendary bad guys and women from history whose stories Borges has cherry picked from his highly eclectic reading.In reality it is much smaller in scope, and consists of: A Universal History of InfamyДЄ Universal History of Infamy is not, in fact, a universal history of infamy or anything like that ambitious. It was for his short essays on imaginary or fantastical subjects that he was to become famous and A Universal History of Infamy, more or less the earliest work by Borges you can read in English translation,В gives an indication why. YouвЂ™d expect poetry from a starter author, but itвЂ™s notable that so many of these early volumes contain essays, in other words short prose explorations of ideas вЂ“ about other authors, historical events or topics etc. El idioma de los argentinos (1928) essays.El tamaГ±o de mi esperanza (1925) essays.Borges had published the following before we get to the book under review: Which makes it all the more odd or unfair that he is still best known in the English-speaking world for more or less one volume, Labyrinths, and a handful of lesser works. In his long life he published an enormous number of volumes (вЂIn addition to short stories for which he is most noted, Borges also wrote poetry, essays, screenplays, literary criticism, and edited numerous anthologiesвЂ™) and the Wikipedia bibliography lists 66 volumes of prose, poetry and essays, in total. Born in 1899, Borges published his first book in 1923 and wrote steadily for the next 60 years (he died in 1986). One thinks of Borges as a modern classic so it comes as a bit of a surprise to learn just how long ago he was writing. (BorgesвЂ™s 1954 preface to A Universal History of Infamy) Long ago The book is no more than appearance, than a surface of images for that very reason, it may prove enjoyable.

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