A whimsical compendium of mythological creature profiles considers the inventions of such literary masters as Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, and Kafka, in a humorously commentated volume that explores the qualities of a range of dragons, unicorns, and other curious beasts. 25,000 first printing.
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
The master, writing with sometime collaborator Guerrero, compiled 82 one- and two-page descriptions of everything from "The Borametz" (a Chinese "plant shaped like a lamb, covered with golden fleece") to "The Simurgh" ("an immortal bird that makes its nest in the tree of science") and "The Zaratan" (a particularly cunning whale) in An Anthology of Fantastic Zoology in 1954. He added 34 more (and illustrations) for a 1967 edition, giving it the present title, and it was published in English in 1969. This edition, with fresh translations from Borges's Collected Fictions translator Hurley, and new illustrations from Caldecott-winner Sís, gives the beings new life. They prove the perfect foils for classic Borgesian musings on everything from biblical etymology to the underworld, giving the creatures particularly (and, via Sís, whimsically) vivid and perfectly scaled shape. "We do not know what the dragon means, just as we do not know the meaning of the universe," Borges (1899–1986) and Guerrero write in a preface, and the genius of this book is that it seems to easily contain the latter within it. (On sale Nov. 7)
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About the Author
Jorge Luis Borges (1899Â1986) is one of the most widely acclaimed writers of the twentieth century.
Peter SÃs has received five New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Book of the Year awards, a Society of Illustrators Gold Medal, and a Caldecott Honor. He was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2003.
Andrew Hurley has translated the Collected Fictions of Borges as well as works by Reinaldo Arenas and Arturo Perez-Reverte, among others.
Product details
- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Viking Adult (November 3, 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0670891800
- ISBN-13: 978-0670891801
- Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1 x 9.5 inches
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