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“I’m all ears”

“Not a hope,” replied Harry “You’ll just have to be patient, which I’est suit”

“Then let’s hope your new responsibilities won’t cut into your writing schedule Many congratulations”

“Thank you Though I only allowed lish PEN for one reason”

Guinzburg raised an eyebrow

“I want a Russian called Anatoly Babakov to be released from prison immediately”

“Why do you feel so strongly about Babakov?” asked Guinzburg

“If you’d been locked up in prison for a crily And don’t forget, I was in an Aulag in Siberia”

“I can’t even remember what Babakov was meant to have done”

“He wrote a book”

“That’s a crime in Russia?”

“It is if you decide to tell the truth about your employer, especially if your employer was Josef Stalin”

“Uncle Joe, I re, “but the book was never published”

“It was published but Babakov was arrested long before a copy reached the bookshelves, and after a show trial he was sentenced to twenty years in prison, with no right of appeal”