"The indifference of American public culture to the experiences of other peoples is reflected in the lack of work translated from foreign languages. Without translations, Americans, who are notoriously monolingual, have access only to the perspectives of those who write and speak in English; thus the ideas of millions are lost to them.

About 3% of the fiction and poetry published in the United States in 1999 was translated.

America compares unfavourably to almost every other country and most unfavourably to western Europe, the region closest to an ideological sibling... There, Germany translates the most works - about six times as many as the US each year. Spain is close behind, while the French publishing industry exceeds the US by four times.

Without translations, Americans, who are notoriously monolingual, have access only to the perspectives of those who write and speak in English; thus the ideas of millions are lost to them."