Daniel Balderston - How Borges Wrote

The writing of this book has been long and arduous. Initially the problem was the lack of material; later, the abundance. I am greatly in the debt of many people who helped along the way, most notably Donald Yates, Nicols Helft, Vctor Aizenman, Soledad Costantini, and Jared Loewenstein. Three dear friends did not live to see the book itself: Michel Lafon, with whom I had several important conversations early in the project; Ricardo Piglia, whose enthusiasm pushed me along; and Donald Yates, who was helpful throughout and was eager to see the final product. The various catalogues of Lame Duck Books were invaluable, as was the help of Lies Wijnterp, Nora Benedict, and Mara Eugenia Mudrovcic. Many colleagues were generous with invitations to speak about this project as it evolved: Maarten Steenmeijer at Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, Laura Rosato and Germn lvarez at the Biblioteca Nacional, Rafael Olea Franco at the Colegio de Mxico, Michelle Clayton at Brown, Cecilia Gonzlez at the Universit de Bordeaux, Sergio Romanelli at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Mara del Carmen Marengo at the Universidad Nacional de Crdoba, Hlmfrur Gararsdttir at the University of Iceland, Damaris Puales-Alpzar at Case Western Reserve, Ana Cara at Oberlin, Miguel Fernndez at Middlebury, Fernando Degiovanni at Wesleyan and then again at CUNY Graduate Center, Hctor Hoyos at Stanford, Jernimo Pizarro at the Universidad de los Andes, Diana Paola Guzmn at the Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Cecilia Esparza and Susana Reisz at the Pontificia Universidad Catlica del Per, Elton Honores at the Universidad Mayor Nacional de San Marcos, Gonzalo Cornejo at the Centro de Estudios Literarios Antonio Cornejo Polar, Mariela Blanco at the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Cristina Iglesia at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Gabriela Nouzeilles at Princeton, Bill Richardson at the National University of Ireland-Galway, Magdalena Cmpora at the Universidad Catlica Argentina, Alejandro Higashi at the Universidad Autnoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Edwin Williamson at Oxford, John Kraniauskas and Mari Paz Balibrea at Birkbeck College, Stephen Hart at University College London, Peter Logan at Temple University, Magdalena Lpez at the Universidade de Lisboa, and Juan Carlos Gonzlez Espitia at the University of North Carolina. I am grateful to students in the courses I have taught on Borges manuscripts at the University of Pittsburgh, the Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mxico, the Universidad de Buenos Aires, and the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Colleagues with whom I have had illuminating conversations about genetic and textual criticism include Julio Premat, Fernando Degiovanni, John Bryant, Jacques Neefs, Mariana Di Ci, Graciela Villanueva, Alfredo Alonso Estenoz, Sergio Delgado, Mara Laura Bocaz, Ana Ins Larre Borges, Sam Slote, Mariela Blanco, Claudia Rosa, Ricardo Piglia, Peter Shillingsburg, Alejandro Higashi, Randall Halle, Mara Julia Rossi and (last but certainly not least) lida Lois; special thanks to Fernando Degiovanni, Mara Julia Rossi, Donald Yates, Evelyn Fishburn, John Bryant, and lida Lois for their careful reading of the manuscript. Editors of journals where I have published earlier versions of sections of this project are Horacio Gonzlez, Carina Blixen, Sal Sosnowski, Lukasz Grtzmacher, Julio Premat, Beatriz Curia, Marina Martn, and Juan Duchesne-Winter. Thanks to all the contributors to the genetic criticism issue (no. 246) of the Revista Iberoamericana and to issue 38 of Variaciones Borges (focused on Borges manuscripts). Special thanks to several librarians: Richard Watson and Cameron McCoy at the Harry Ransom Center, Thomas Lannan and Tal Nadan at the New York Public Library, Peter Berg at the Michigan State University Libraries, and Regina Rush at the University of Virginia Library. Without Laura Rosato and Germn lvarez none of this would have been possible. I am grateful to Dean N. John Cooper, Dean James F. Knapp and Provost Patricia Beeson here at the University of Pittsburgh for their support, as well as to the Center for Latin American Studies. Gustavo Quinteros patience and attention to detail were very welcome in the preparation of the images and of the final version of the manuscript; Gustavo Vargas helped check questions that were raised by the copy editor. It has been wonderful working with Angie Hogan, Morgan Myers, and Susan Murray at the University of Virginia Press. And a very special thanks: since early in our relationship, Hernn Martnez Milln has been urging me to concentrate on this project, and I am glad to finally pay him back for his insistence. This book is his in every way.

Permission has been granted by the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas for use of images of the manuscript of Destino escandinavo and the typescript of Emma Zunz.

The New York Public Library gave permission for use of images of the manuscripts of La lotera en Babilonia and El pudor de la historia.

Permission has been granted by Special Collections at the Michigan State University Libraries for use of images of the manuscripts of La muralla y los libros, Evaristo Carriego, and an unpublished talk on Franz Kafka.

Mara Soledad Costantini gave permission for use of images of the Lanceros Argentinos de 1910 notebook cover and the manuscript of Hombre de la esquina rosada.

Permission has been granted by Andrew Wylie Agency on behalf of the Borges Estate for use of Borges quotations and for the publication of manuscript material.

Permission was granted by Penguin USA, Penguin Canada, and Penguin UK for use of Andrew Hurleys translation of the long sentence in The Aleph.

Support for this publication has been provided by the Richard D. and Mary Jane Edwards Endowed Publication Fund in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences of the University of Pittsburgh.