The book of imaginary beings
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references.

"The book of imaginary beings is Borges's whimsical compendium of more than a hundred of "the strange creatures conceived down through history by the human imagination." Imbued with Borges's characteristic wit and erudition, this unique contribution to fantasy literature ranges widely across the world's mythologies and literatures to bring together in one delightful encyclopedia the fantastical inventions drawn from the Kabbalah, Homer, Pliny, Confucius, Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, and C.S. Lewis, among others. Here readers will find the familiar and expected Dragons and Centaurs, Unicorns and Gnomes, as well as the less familiar and altogether unexpected Animals That Live in the Mirror, The Elephant That Prefigured the Birth of Buddha, the Hairy Beast of La Ferte-Bernard, and other undeniably curious creatures. Throughout, Borges's cunning and humorous commentary is sheer delight." "For this new illustrated edition of The Book of Imaginary Beings, Viking has paired Andrew Hurley, the acclaimed translator of Borges's Collected Fictions, with award-winning illustrator Peter Sis, whose original drawings appear throughout the book. The result is a wonderful work - an Alice-Through-the-Looking-Glass menagerie, which should appeal to fantasy fans of all stripes and ages."--Jacket.