Criticism > Short Story Criticism > Perelman, S(idney) J(oseph) - The New York Times Book Review (review date 1950)

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The New York Times Book Review (review date 1950)

SOURCE: Review of Parlor, Bedlam and Bath, in The New York Times Book Review, November 30, 1950, p. 9.

[In the following laudatory review, the unsigned critic examines Perelman's humorous narratives.]

In Parlor, Bedlam and Bath the Messrs. Perelman and [Q. J.] Reynolds have collaborated in an amusing and at times genuinely hilarious burlesque. The bad pun of the novel's title is no index to the nonsense in the bulk of the written matter. With a shaky skeleton of a narrative, the authors have dedicated themselves to the sole purpose of being entertaining and they have succeeded brilliantly.

The story, in its snatches of lucidity, celebrates the exploits of one Chester Tattersall, the dizzy son of a ne'er-do-well father who is providentially relieved of a life of clerking by the death of his uncle, Mameluke. Mameluke had had a talent for accumulating money...

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1. Introduction
2. Principal Works
3. Criticism
   1. The Saturday Review of Literature (review date 1937)
   2. Beatrice Sherman (review date 1943)
   3. Time (review date 1943)
   4. Eudora Welty (review date 1944)
   5. Thomas Sugrue (review date 1944)
   6. Russell Maloney (review date 1946)
   7. Harry Gilroy (review date 1949)
   8. The New York Times Book Review (review date 1950)
   9. Ted Robinson, Jr. (review date 1952)
   10. Herbert Kupferberg (review date 1955)
   11. Dorothy Parker (review date 1957)
   12. Walker Gibson (review date 1958)
   13. Eudora Welty (review dates 1958 and 1970)
   14. Michael Flanders (review date 1962)
   15. The Times Literary Supplement (review date 1962)
   16. S. J. Perelman with William Cole and George Plimpton (interview date 1963)
   17. Norris W. Yates (essay date 1964)
   18. The Times Literary Supplement (review date 1967)
   19. Richard Freedman (review date 1970)
   20. Roderick Nordell (review date 1970)
   21. Stefan Kanfer (review date 1970)
   22. Paul Theroux (review date 1976)
   23. Paul Theroux (review date 1977)
   24. Michael Wood (review date 1978)
   25. Barry Fantoni (review date 1978)
   26. Marshall Brickman (review date 1981)
   27. Terry Teachout (review date 1981)
   28. Wilfrid Sheed (review date 1981)
   29. Prudence Crowther (review date 1984)
   30. Steven H. Gale (essay date 1987)
4. Further Reading
5. Copyright