Preface to the Cornell Paperbacks Edition

Abstract

T his book has enjoyed mostly positive reactions in its hardback (Cornell, 199 5) and Romanian (Humanitas, 1998) editions, and I have made only slight, technical revisions for the paperback. I would like then to use this preface to respond in turn to some of the most substantial responses to the book, in the hope of advancing the scholarly project that we are all, readers and writers, involved in. 1