Jorge Luis Borges (1899--1986) is one of the most influential literary figures of the twentieth century. His short stories, poems, essays, and translations explore Argentine mythology, mysticism, philosophical ideas, and myriad other topics. This Very Short Introduction gives an engaging overview of Borges's life and the major themes of his oeuvre.

Ilan Stavans places Borges in the context of tango and gaucho literature and follows his transformation into an explorer of time and metaphysical dimensions across cultures. As an inveterate reader of Cervantes, Shakespeare, Flaubert, Coleridge, and The Arabian Nights, Borges has become closely associated with the book as an object of knowledge and of the imagination. Stavans demonstrates how Borges's evolution as a writer allowed him to revolutionize contemporary literature and thought in fundamental ways through such works as Ficciones, Other Inquisitions, and Labyrinths, and shows how his career redefined Latin American as well as global literature.