This study examines Borges' association with the European avant-garde during the late 1910s and early 1920s. It explores the Argentine author's literary origins under the tutelage of the avant-garde, his earliest publications in Spanish journals, and his decisive role in the Ultraist movement, whose ideas shaped his early career and channelled his subsequent literary development. Maier's analysis and interpretation of these early texts document Borges' career as an avant-garde theorist and poet. This book explains the pertinence of Borges' literary apprenticeship to his later works and establishes the basic unity of his writing.
Maier assembles for the first time many of Borges' earliest texts, poems and manifest es published in Spain between 1919 and 1926. Her book sheds needed light on Borges' participation in European avant-garde literary movements, and lucidly points out Ultraist tendencies in his mature work. Mary L. Friedman, Wake Forest University
This work d es not only illuminate Borges' first steps as a writer through a comprehensive view that examines unknown texts in Borges' earlier production; it also casts light upon the Borgesian production as a whole, emphasizing the distinctive traits of this writer. Marina Martín, St. John's University
Professor Maier's book is an insightful study that puts into a new perspective Borges' faithfulness throughout his career despite his own staements to the contrary to Ultraist principles. Hugo Méndez-Ramírez, Georgia State University
It was absolutely indispensable to consolidate in a single volume the entire literary and personal activity of the young Borges in Europe. This is a valuable study which has been sorely needed. Carlos Meneses
Maier's book supercedes everything we have at present on Borges' earliest work. D. L. Shaw, University of Virginia
