95 Books In 2006, George W. Bush read 95 books. We will do better.

Though Borges strikes a compelling and articulate figure in these interviews, I found it difficult to get much out of them due to the emphasis on Argentine political and literary culture, both of which I know little about. At times the interviews read like a litany of Borges’s opinions on people I’ve never heard of before. At other moments they are a delight. Sorrentino is a clever, provocative questioner, and capable of much humour. After asking Borges if he likes any of the contributions of other writers to a record of tangos in which he’d “had a hand,” Sorrentino writes:

(Without saying a word at this point, Borges indicates, by means of gesture, infinite doubt.) (82)

At other times Borges is more forthcoming:

F.S. You once told me that Spain’s eighteenth century isn’t worth much [in literary terms]…
J.L.B. More likely I said it isn’t worth anything. (105)

— Jonathan Ball