[Enzensberger] is a writer who has been poet, editor, playwright and essayist. I think it is in the last art that he has been the most influential: he carries out experiments on the essay form with the intensity and iconoclasm that poets apply to forms in verse.

- Neal Ascherson, Observer

Probably the nearest thing there is to a Renaissance figure among contemporary writers. He is a restless adept, bringing qualities of learning, intelligence, spleen and surprise to an extraordinary array of different literary enterprises.

- Michael Hoffman, Sunday Correspondent

He has a sharp eye and an even sharper ear. He is also blessed with a beautifully fluent English translator.

- Edward Mortimer, Financial Times