Book of short fiction inspired by the writing of Jorge Luis Borges, specifically his “An Examination of the Work of Herbert Quain” (original Spanish title: “Examen de la obra de Herbert Quain”)
Overview: Papers for the Suppression of Reality is a short story collection that borrows characters from stories by Jorge Luis Borges, and recontextualizes them in modern-day Berkeley, California.
Context: Argentinian author Jorge Luis Borges wrote fake book reviews of books that didn’t exist. Matt Werner teamed up with Dr. Shaka Freeman to write one of the fake books referenced in Borges’s “Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote.”
Critical reception: Fans of A Perfect Vacuum (Polish: Doskona?a pró?nia) by Stanis?aw Lem or Numbers in the Dark and Other Stories (Italian: Prima che tu dica ‘Pronto’) by Italo Calvino will likely enjoy this collection of stories. It’s written in a playful style with academic humor. The book contains many inside jokes about postmodern literature from the authors’ experience at McSweeney’s Publishing, as well as deep knowledge of Latin American, specifically Argentine literature.
What you get: Printed in California on 100% cotton archival paper with the world s largest Jorge Luis Borges-themed crossword puzzle in the back arranged by six-time winner of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, Tyler Hinman. Special editions also feature a fold-out map of “Borges’s Real and Imaginary Buenos Aires.” Hand-bound and individually numbered by the authors.
Media: Matt Werner gave an Authors@Google talk on the making of and publishing the book: