Reading JLB’s essays is as much a pleasure as reading his short fictions, and there is much continuity between his efforts in both forms, both in style (think “Pierre Menard” and “The Theologians”) and in theme (paradox, coincidence, recurrence, etc.). The ironic detachment of Borges’s stories, however, is replaced here with a clear and irresistible enthusiasm, like that of an eager student. I cannot understate what a tremendous joy it is to read these remarkable essays.