"The finest American novel published since the war." Washington Post Book World
"A true novelist's triumph." Time
"Algren is an artist whose sympathy is as large as Victor Hugo's, an artist who ranks, with this novel, among our best American authors." Chicago Sun-Times
"Powerful, grisly, antic, horrifying, poetic, compassionate ... [there is] virtually nothing more that one could ask." New York Times Book Review
"A true novelist's triumph." Time
"Algren is an artist whose sympathy is as large as Victor Hugo's, an artist who ranks, with this novel, among our best American authors." Chicago Sun-Times
"Powerful, grisly, antic, horrifying, poetic, compassionate ... [there is] virtually nothing more that one could ask." New York Times Book Review