In development, Wallace's novels start from a large and ranging base. Then they grow pyramidally, gradually concentrating the plot and shedding sub-plots and details as they rise until eventually the top is reached and the problem is solved. These plots are rich and complex, or they are overly complicated and confusing, depending on the reader's point of view…. [He] must have room and time to develop his novels in considerable detail to get across his message.

Once this message has been developed, however, after the puzzle has been solved, Wallace seems to lose most of his interest in the book…. [Wallace] is actually mostly gripped by the themes themselves. Little wonder then that after the questions and answers have been demonstrated and worked out, the author rushes to close the book, apparently content to erase the characters once they have illustrated his point. (p. 435)

Wallace assumes that after the problem raised in the novel has been settled, the world, which he does not see as having been really endangered, will rock on at about the same keel. Wallace's world is not as dark as those of many other writers….

[Perhaps] it may seem absurd to say that Wallace can be embarrassed by sex and uses restraint in portraying it. But the statement holds. Wallace is the first to admit that sex sells books and that he wants to sell his works. But he also insists that sex is life and that he, if he would be true to life, must demonstrate that sex is a dominant force. (p. 437)

He is as explicit as he needs to be to demonstrate his point. But he is not salacious, not obscene, although he has been criticized for being so. Searchers for the pornographic need not look into his books. (p. 438)

Wallace has developed an effective style. It is direct, carefully chosen and clear. It is never tortured and egoistic…. If at times it appears wordy, this is because of Wallace's insistence that clarity of message is more important than brevity.

Both message and style have combined through the years to create works of considerable impact. The Prize set a kind of high-water mark in subject and accomplishment. Since that novel Wallace has continued to explore new areas of investigation and to provide rich entertainment. (pp. 438-39)