"I turn to Babel for reassurance that literature is capable of showing the real and terrifying mayhem that results when national systems collapse, while still preserving some modicum of love for human beings. If I ever need my ear tuned, this is where I go. Babel is a particular master of that unnamed space between sentences; the place where, in my view, a piece’s real sensibility gets made: what does the writer omit, and how does he link his observations?"

"I’ve read, reread and loved this book most of my life. It never disappoints. Twain writes with an easygoing virtuosity that makes American English the equal of any King’s. This is the book that codified American English, not Moby Dick or The Scarlet Letter. Those two great books are American Literature. Huck and Jim are America. The seeds of the tragedy of racism are planted on nearly every page of Twain’s masterpiece. Those birds are still coming home to roost."