Norman Thomas Di Giovanni

“The drunkard who comes out with an absurd order, the dreamer who suddenly wakes and with his bare hands strangles the woman sleeping beside him – are they perhaps not carrying out one of the Company’s secret decisions? These silent workings, so like those of God, give rise to all manner of speculation.”The affairs of Babylon are dictated by a lottery. Discreetly administered by a mysterious and seemingly omnipotent Company, the lottery can elevate citizens to positions of wealth and power or condemn them to the most shameful punishments. Taking this fantastical conceit as its starting point, Jorge Luis Borges’s short story is a characteristically brilliant achievement – a haunting mediation on the nature of chance, paranoia and divinity.Eris Gems make available in the form of beautifully produced saddle-stitched booklets a series of outstanding short works of fiction and non-fiction.

A contemporary collection of stories by one of France’s finest writers. Revered by key literary figures including as Balzac and Mérimée, Stendhal is best known for his novels, but his shorter works were just as powerful. In this brand new translation, Susan Ashe brings his greatest Italian stories to the modern reader, whilst staying true to Stendhal’s style and brilliance. The collection includes: - The Abbess of Castro- Vittoria Accordamboni- The Cenci- Along with accompanying essays by Charles Dickens, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Stendhal himself. Together, these stories convey Stendhal’s love of Italy and admiration for the society’s honesty, sincerity, and above all, passion. ‘Roman Tales’ will reaffirm Stendhal as one of the great French masters of the 19th Century.

A collection of essays on Jorge Luis Borges by his long-time friend and collaborator. Jorge Luis Borges – Argentine poet, essayist, and short-story writer – is widely considered one of the giants of 20th-century world literature. Norman Thomas di Giovanni worked alongside Borges for a number of years creating English translations of his work, the only translations personally overseen by Borges himself. In The Lesson of the Master, a memoir and essays, he writes about his time with Borges but also offers us a unique insight on the man and his work. It is an indispensable volume for Borges readers and his growing legion of students and scholars.

Borges -- Argentine poet, essayist, and short-story writer, whose tales of fantasy and dream-worlds are classics of the 20th-century world literature - was profoundly influenced by European culture, English literature, and thinkers such as Berkeley. Since his death, Borges has been inducted into the world literary canon through the efforts of a number of influential critics and the Borges estate. Central to this project has been the publication of a group of grand volumes whose greatest achievement has been to make available in English works that had previously remained obscure, even in Spanish. The Lesson of the Master, a memoir and essays, is an indispensable work for Borges readers and his growing legion of students and scholars. Di Giovanni was the only translator to have Borges to hand on a daily basis to contradict or authorize his work. In addition, di Giovanni is not burdened with an over-reverence for his subject but is on the contrary playful, robust and witty. The Lesson of the Master is an essential illumination of one of the great masters of twentieth-century literature.