With BorgesDuring the 1960’s, Alberto Manguel, then a teenager, worked after school at a bookstore in Buenos Aires. One day, the legendary Jorge Luis Borges, who would come into the store after work, asked the young man if he would mind coming to his apartment to read to him in the evenings. Borges, a giant of modern literature, had gradually become blind and could no longer read his beloved books. For several years, Manguel spent many evenings reading to the master of fiction he had studied at school. He witnessed the blind Borges’ extraordinary ability to pick out from the shelf titles he knew he would enjoy simply by running his fingers along the spines of the books. He discovered Borges’ fondness for Sherlock Holmes, watched gangster movies starring James Cagney, and sat through West Side Story with him. But even as he visited Borges in his dark, comfortable apartment, reading out loud and talking about books, we glimpse the inner world of a literary legend. Illustrated by rare photos of Borges by Argentinian Sara Facio, this book is a remarkable window into the private life of one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century. |
