The Book of Fantasy is the English translation of Antología de la literatura fantástica, an
anthology of approximately 81
fantastic short stories, fragments, excerpts, and poems edited by
Jorge Luis Borges,
Adolfo Bioy Casares, and
Silvina Ocampo. It was first published in
Argentina in 1940, and revised in 1965 and 1976. Anthony Kerrigan had previously translated a similar work by the same editors, Cuentos breves y extraordinarios (1955) as Extraordinary Tales, published by
Herder & Herder in 1971. The 1988
Viking Penguin edition for English-speaking countries includes a
foreword by
Ursula K. Le Guin.
According to Le Guin's introduction, the idea and inspiration for this volume came into being "one night in 1937 in Buenos Aires, when Jorge Luis Borges, Adolfo Bioy Casares, and Silvina Ocampo fell to talking - so Casares tells us - 'about fantastic literature. ..simply a compilation of stories from fantastic literature which seemed to us to be the best.'"[1]
"Tantalia".
Macedonio Fernández; translated by Lucia Alvarez de Toledo & Alexandra Potts - (begins page 110)
"Eternal Life"
J. G. Frazer 1913; Balder the Beautiful, Volume I. A Study in Magic and Religion: the Golden Bough, Part VII., The Fire-Festivals of Europe and the Doctrine of the External Soul (begins page 114)
The Book of Fantasy is the English translation of Antología de la literatura fantástica, an
anthology of approximately 81
fantastic short stories, fragments, excerpts, and poems edited by
Jorge Luis Borges,
Adolfo Bioy Casares, and
Silvina Ocampo. It was first published in
Argentina in 1940, and revised in 1965 and 1976. Anthony Kerrigan had previously translated a similar work by the same editors, Cuentos breves y extraordinarios (1955) as Extraordinary Tales, published by
Herder & Herder in 1971. The 1988
Viking Penguin edition for English-speaking countries includes a
foreword by
Ursula K. Le Guin.
According to Le Guin's introduction, the idea and inspiration for this volume came into being "one night in 1937 in Buenos Aires, when Jorge Luis Borges, Adolfo Bioy Casares, and Silvina Ocampo fell to talking - so Casares tells us - 'about fantastic literature. ..simply a compilation of stories from fantastic literature which seemed to us to be the best.'"[1]
"Tantalia".
Macedonio Fernández; translated by Lucia Alvarez de Toledo & Alexandra Potts - (begins page 110)
"Eternal Life"
J. G. Frazer 1913; Balder the Beautiful, Volume I. A Study in Magic and Religion: the Golden Bough, Part VII., The Fire-Festivals of Europe and the Doctrine of the External Soul (begins page 114)