Things Fall Apart : Introduction by Kwame Anthony Appiah

Praise for Chinua Achebe

"A true classic of world literature...A masterpiece that has inspired generations of writers in Nigeria, across Africa, and around the world." -- Barack Obama

"A magical writer--one of the greatest of the twentieth century." --Margaret Atwood

"African literature is incomplete and unthinkable without the works of Chinua Achebe." --Toni Morrison

"Chinua Achebe has shown that a mind that observes clearly but feels deeply enough to afford laughter may be more wise than all the politicians and journalists." --Time

"Chinua Achebe is gloriously gifted with the magic of an ebullient, generous, great talent." --Nadine Gordimer

"Achebe's influence should go on and on . . . teaching and reminding that all humankind is one." --The Nation

"The father of African literature in the English language and undoubtedly one of the most important writers of the second half of the twentieth century." --Caryl Phillips, The Observer

"We are indebted to Achebe for reminding us that art has social and moral dimension--a truth often obscured." --Chicago Tribune

"He is one of the few writers of our time who has touched us with a code of values that will never be ironic." --Michael Ondaatje

"For so many readers around the world, it is Chinua Achebe who opened up the magic casements of African fiction." --Kwame Anthony Appiah

"[Achebe] is one of world literature's great humane voices." --Times Literary Supplement

"Achebe is one of the most distinguished artists to emerge from the West African cultural renaissance of the post-war world." --The Sunday Times (London)

"[Achebe is] a powerful voice for cultural decolonization." --The Village Voice

"The power and majesty of Chinua Achebe's work has, literally, opened the world to generations of readers. He is an ambassador of art, and a profound recorder of the human condition." --Michael Dorris