Introduction 1
If I Were the Dark Winter 5
Descartes 101
Notes 217

"Sometime ago I wrote in the New York Times Book Review that it was a shame that Artificial Respiration by Ricardo Piglia, one of the most important Latin American novels of the last decade, was unavailable in English. Now it can finally be read, enjoyed, and celebrated by readers in this country. It will be an intellectual experience you will never forget"--Ariel Dorfman