Borges: A Life

Acclaimed as one of the great writers of the twentieth century, Jorge Luis Borges revolutionized the literature of Latin America almost single-handedly, as well as having a remarkable impact in Britain, France, Italy, the United States, and many other countries. He became famous for his astonishing tales of fantasy and metaphysics, but he was also a poet and essayist of formidable skill.

This is the first biography in any language to encompass the entire span of Borges's life and work, based on previously unknown or unavailable sources. It brings out the human side of his roots in Argentina, his relations with family and friends, in love and in despair. It charts the evolution of his political his early days as a cultural nationalist, his activities against Peron, his support for the Argentine military juntas during the Dirty War of the 1970s, and the pacifism he finally espoused. By correlating this new biographical information with Borges's literary texts, Edwin Williamson reconstructs the dynamics of his inner world - the conflicts, desires, and obsessions that drove the man and shaped his work.