Babel

Michael Romano, Milton Läufer & all the contributors to BAR

Library of Babel as visualized by Erik Desmazieres.

(Each of the following sentences comes from the texts of the Review.
Hover over one to see its title or click to read the whole text.)

1978) have become multi-layered symbols: as bookstores, they resist the unwanted apotheosis of “book culture” into the cloud; as “independents,” they are the victims of the latest corporate assault on “local business,” the lifeblood of “main street,” which big-box malls and now online retailers have been relentlessly siphoning off. I made my way through, not looking for anything in particular, for something concrete waiting there for me that would move me unexpectedly. A few days later, he says, “Mommy, don’t be dead. Could he have left it backstage? Is it some sort of joke he’s playing on his audience? His head is bald as usual, setting off perfectly the cut of the clergy shirt he wears when he’s not in a black tunic. Once the coveted issue has been found, one is ready to emerge, treasure in hand, to the luminous, sunlit exuberance of the reading-room paradise.