Criticism > Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism > Collier, John - Herschel Brickell (review date 1931)

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Herschel Brickell (review date 1931)

SOURCE: Brickell, Herschel. “A Variety of Fiction.” The North American Review 231 (1931): 574.

[In the following review, Brickell comments on Collier's satire and humor in His Monkey Wife.]

One of the most engaging of recent novels is an English satire by John Collier and called His Monkey Wife or Married to a Chimp. In brief, it is the story of the return from Africa to England of a young Englishman. His companion is a lady chimpanzee named Emily. Once at home, he falls in love with a pretty girl, but after many difficulties decides to marry Emily and return to Africa. This is a highly entertaining piece of fiction, and also a sharp and amusing comment upon civilization. It is no small feat to hold the interest of the reader in a book of this kind and to give its impossible story plausibility, but Mr. Collier has succeeded in both and heartily deserves a hearing. Brainerd Beckwith's...

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1. Introduction
2. Principal Works
3. Criticism
   1. Josiah Titzell (review date 5 April 1931)
   2. Dudley Carew (review date 5 May 1931)
   3. Herschel Brickell (review date 1931)
   4. Basil Bunting (review date August 1932)
   5. Rolfe Scott-Thomas (review date 20 October 1932)
   6. New Statesman and Nation (review date 12 November 1932)
   7. The Spectator (review date 18 November 1932)
   8. David Garnett (review date 8 April 1933)
   9. Iris Barry (review date 7 May 1933)
   10. John Cournos (review date 28 June 1933)
   11. Wyndham Lewis (review date 8 June 1934)
   12. William Rose Benét (review date 4 August 1934)
   13. The Nation (review date 8 August 1934)
   14. Fanny Butcher (review date 22 September 1934)
   15. C. J. Eustace (review date September 1934)
   16. Geoffrey West (review date 12 December 1934)
   17. Ben Ray Redman (review date 1 February 1941)
   18. Otis Ferguson (review date 3 February 1941)
   19. Paul Theroux (essay date 26 November 1972)
   20. New Republic (review date 9 December 1972)
   21. Jay Martin (review date 23 June 1973)
   22. John Updike (essay date 20 August 1973)
   23. Anthony Burgess (essay date 1973)
   24. Tom Milne (essay date spring 1976)
4. Further Reading
5. Copyright