In his “Toenails,” which first appeared in The Maker in 1960, Borges marvels at the stubborn growth of his nails and hair that will proceed even after his death.[1] In the Afterword to this collection of sundry pieces he bemoans their diversity. Many are clearly of considerable vintage, spanning several concepts of literature. Following on A Universal History of Iniquity (1935), Fictions (1944), and The Aleph (1949), the last of which ushers a silence of more than a decade, The Maker also follows on international acclaim and a degree of comfort that goes with it. In the “Toenails,” a delicious scrap of less than one-hundred and fifty words, Borges also appears to understand that his brand of literature, already well entrenched by 1950, will outlive him even before his death.

Footnote

1. Jorge Luis Borges: Collected Fictions, translated by Andrew Hurley, New York: Viking, 1998, p. 294.