The Book of Fantasy [Paperback]

Jorge Luis Borges (Editor), Silvina Ocampo (Editor), Adolfo Bioy Casares (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1990

A collection of fantasy stories which includes stories by James Joyce, Lewis Carroll, Ursula Leguin, Ray Bradbury, Oscar Wilde J.G Ballard, Franz Kafka.....

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Originally conceived of by its Argentinian editors in 1937, and now published in English for the first time, this unusual and provocative volume is an omnibus collection. In addition to stories by Ballard, Poe, Saki, Max Beerbohm, Ray Bradbury, May Sinclair, de Maupassant and Julio Cortazar, there are shorter pieces, anecdotes, folkloric fragments, dreamlike moments. Most of the 79 selections are only a paragraph or two long, giving us brief passage into magical visions of the world culled from the work of an international array of authors of the past three centuries, including less well-known authors such as Santiago Dabove, Edwin Morgan and Niu Chiao. The keynote tale may well be Borges's own "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" in which an imaginary world, conjured up by manufactured documentation, ends up eroding our reality: reality is malleable, and imagination necessarily subverts and alters it.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Here are two fantasy anthologies that together effectively represent past and present examples of the genre. The Book of Fantasy contains 79 stories and poems from many sources. Originally published nearly 50 years ago in Argentina, updated in 1965, and available in English for the first time, this collection is based entirely on the editors' preferences, with contents ranging from light fantasy to grim horror. Though 19th-century classics predominate, there are many lesser known offerings from locales as diverse as South America and ancient China. In contrast, The Year's Best Fantasy is a new anthology made up entirely of the best stories and poems in 1987 American publications, offering over 35 examples of modern fantasy and horror from such authors as Joyce Carol Oates, Harlan Ellison, and Ursula Le Guin. This volume, intended as a companion to The Year's Best Science Fiction (St. Martin ' s), also includes two excellent summaries of fantasy and horror in 1987. Recommended. C. Robert Nixon, M.L.S., Lafayette, Ind.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub (August 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881846562
• ISBN-13: 978-0881846560
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #525,665 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars first rate!, April 24, 2010

By 

Martin Chandler (Orange CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Book of Fantasy (Paperback)

This collection is excellent. Along with the deservedly famous selections such as The Monkey's Paw and The Man Who Liked Dickens, there are many stories even the most erudite fantasy reader may be unacquainted with. Some of the tales, such as The Story of the Foxes by Niu Chiao and the unsettling Guilty Eyes by Ah'med Ech Chiruani, are half page at most, but will implant themselves in the memory as effectively as the longer narrations. ("Guilty Eyes" is as durable as a poison oak seed.) Also present is a fine selection of Latin American fictions, with a focus on Argentine writers. Kafka' Josephine the Singer, Cocteau's The Look of Death, and Beerbohm's Enoch Soames sound straight out of the world of Borges, a tribute to the latter writer who managed to forge a world view at once deeply personal yet universal. Borges's own Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius is included as well as a piece by the under-read Casares. All in all an indispensable collection, marred only by an astonishing number of typos. Buy it! (At 92 cents it's a steal.)

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic collection, April 1, 2005

By 

Helen Boyd (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book of Fantasy (Paperback)

This book is more what a fantasy-reader friend of mine called "literary fantasy" dismissively, but I think it's a wonderful collection - all over the map in terms of stories, global in scope and style, and just great reading overall.