Criticism > Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism > Collier, John - Paul Theroux (essay date 26 November 1972)

1. Printable Version
2. Download PDF
3. Cite this Page
4. Tweet This

Paul Theroux (essay date 26 November 1972)

SOURCE: Theroux, Paul. “Very Wayward Miniatures.” Washington Post Book World (26 November 1972): 4.

[In the following essay, Theroux discusses Collier's place in literary tradition.]

The critical reaction was mixed in 1931 when John Collier's first novel, His Monkey Wife; or, Married to a Chimp, was published by Appleton. Books called it “an extraordinary first novel” and The Boston Evening Transcript said it was “unique and thoroughly entertaining satire.” The Nation regretted that it was not so deft as David Garnett's Lady Into Fox; The New Republic said there was in it “less humor than artifice” and The Spectator concluded that it was “a good dish spoiled in the cooking.” There was, even in the reviewers' praise, a great deal of shy euphemism. But that is understandable—after all, it is the story of a man who copulates with...

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass

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