A New Universal History of Infamy

A New Universal History of Infamy is the title of a 2004 collection of short fiction by Welsh fantasy writer Rhys Hughes. The book serves as a parody and homage to Jorge Luis Borges' collection A Universal History of Infamy, following the plan of the original closely but not slavishly.^[1]

The book was published in Portuguese^[2] translation as Uma nova história universal da infâmia in April 2006. Greek^[3] and Spanish^[4] editions appeared in 2007.

The contents of the original American edition are as follows, including the names of the authors parodied by Hughes in the relevant sections. Not all of the included pieces form part of Hughes' projected cycle of 1000 tales: some are merely 'fragments'.

• Preface to the Unpublished Edition
• Preface to an Imaginary Edition

A NEW UNIVERSAL HISTORY OF INFAMY

• The Brutal Buddha, Baron von Ungern-Sternberg
• The Honest Liar, Denis Zachaire
• Chewer of Hearts, François l'Olonnais
• Trader of Doom, Basil Zaharoff
• The Worm Supreme, Francisco Solano López
• The Worst Hero, Dick Turpin
• The Maddest King, Henry Christophe

STREETCORNER MOUSE

• Streetcorner Mouse

ET AL

• City of Blinks (Herbert Quain)
• The Landscape Player (Fergus Hall)
• The Spanish Cyclops (Felipe Alfau)
• The Unsubtle Cages (Thomas Ligotti)
• Celia the Impaler (Michel Leiris)
• Alone with a Longwinded Soul (D.F. Lewis)
• Monkeybreath (J. MeerKat & M. Rabbits—from Thackery T. Lambshead)
• Of Exactitude in Theology (Jaromir Hladik)

SURPLUS PARODIES

• Finding the Book of Sand (Jorge Luis Borges)
• The Hyperacusis of Chumbly Mucker (John Sladek)
• Ictus Purr (parody of Hughes in the style of the reader)

UNWISE APPENDIX

• Life and the Plumbline (only included in the limited edition)

References