The Penguin Classics debut of Jorge Luis Borges - "the most important thing to happen to imaginative writing in the Spanish language in modern times" (Mario Vargas Llosa)
In his writing, Borges always combined high seriousness with a wicked sense of fun. Here he reveals his delight in re-creating (or making up) colorful stories from the Orient, the Islamic world, and the Wild West, as well as his horrified fascination with knife fights, political and personal betrayal, and bloodthirsty revenge. Sparkling with the sheer exuberant pleasure of story-telling, this collection marked the emergence of an utterly distinctive literary voice.
A Universal History of Iniquity
Introduction by Andrew Hurley
A Universal History of Iniquity (1935)
Preface to the First Edition
Preface to the 1954 Edition
The Cruel Redeemer Lazarus Morell
The Improbable Impostor Tom Castro
The Widow Ching—Pirate
Monk Eastman, Purveyor of Iniquities
The Disinterested Killer Bill Harrigan
The Uncivil Teacher of Court Etiquette Kôsuké no Suké
Hakim, the Masked Dyer of Merv
Man on Pink Corner
Et cetera
Index of Sources
A Note on the Translation
Acknowledgments
Notes to the Fictions
"Hurley’s efforts at retranslating Borges are not anything but heroic. His versions are clear, elegant, crystalline." —Ilan Stavans, The Times Literary Supplement
"[Borges’s] stories often take the outer form of some genre from popular literature, a form proved by long usage, which creates almost mythical structures." —Italo Calvino
