Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey"

Alberto Manguel is an internationally acclaimed reader, writer, and interpreter of a broad array of texts. From 2015 to 2018 he was the director of the National Library of Argentina. His books include Curiosity and Fabulous Monsters. He lives in Lisbon, Portugal.

Praise for the First Edition:  “Dazzling. . . . Manguel, who has read everything, will tell you where to find traces of the original—the Helen, the Cyclops, the Circe, the horse—in Icelandic sagas, fourteenth century danse macabre, Fellini’s 8 1/2, Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, and Jack and the Beanstalk. He devotes chapters to Homer as poetry, history, symbol, everyman, in translation and in Islam. And he himself writes like a dream of antiquity.”—John Leonard, Harper’s Magazine  “[Manguel] brings both his passion for books and his fluency as a writer to this engaging study. . . . Highly recommended for general readers.”—T. L. Cooksey, Library Journal  “Nothing less than a history of literature itself.”—Tom Holland, The Spectator  “Brief but rich history of a mysterious bard and two wondrous works that serve as foundation for Western culture.”—Kirkus Reviews