Davies is a fine writer—deft, resourceful, diverse and, as noted, very funny. But his claim to distinction is his imagination, which he supports by an extraordinary range of wholly unpredictable information. (p. 7)

Fitzgerald, Hemingway and even Faulkner dealt with a world to which the reader feels some connection. Similarly located and circumstanced, one might see what they see. Davies deals with matters far beyond the experiences of his readers; yet, you find yourself taking his word for it, according him full faith and credit. Even if he invents the way a magician practices his art, you have to believe that the invention is at least the equal of the original.

The new novel, "The Rebel Angels" … yields to none of the others in either diverse and esoteric knowledge or complexity of theme….

The story is told in alternating chapters by Maria Theotoky and Simon Darcourt, and the device allows two different accounts and perceptions of the same flow of events. It is less confusing, once one becomes accustomed to it, than might be expected; in fact, it serves exceedingly well….

There is a convention that, in describing a novel, one should not give away the plot. But the attraction here for me is in the style of the story, the fun, and in the truly massive array of information which the book, like its predecessors, conveys….

It is fair to say that one does not ever come into close proximity with Davies's characters. Maria Theotoky is exceedingly beautiful—so one is repeatedly told. And sexually very compelling. But the reader must take the author's word for it; her beauty and sexuality do not otherwise emerge. And with the others on the stage the reader in the audience is never deeply involved. I do not offer this as a criticism; for me at least it is pleasant to read of people who are immensely knowledgeable and interesting whom I am not impelled either to love or to hate.

Not all of the events in a Davies novel, as distinct from the information, are plausible….

But again, if all novels excluded the unlikely, the production of them would drop rather more severely than new housing starts….

[Davies's novels] will be recognized with the very best work of this century. And they will last. (p. 30)