Peter De Vries Summary

Peter De Vries has been called by Kingsley Amis "the funniest serious writer to be found on either side of the Atlantic" and by W. J. Smith "the greatest punster the world has ever known." The author ... Read more

Critical Essay by Christopher Cerf QUESTION: Is it possible to cram into a novel every joke the theme and plot will allow, then add a couple of hundred more for good measure, and still maintain, from... Read more

Critical Essay by J. H. Bowden [But Who Wakes the Bugler?, De Vries's first published novel,] has a certain charm as a product of its time. And it is dated: not only is there a stage Negro, Ju... Read more

Critical Essay by Stuart Sutherland Kingsley Amis once remarked of Peter De Vries: "I would rate him the funniest serious writer on either side of the Atlantic." De Vries's humou... Read more

Critical Essay by Anthony Burgess Peter De Vries's old habit, sustained through twenty novels, of larding his narrative with mots, wisecracks, and malapropisms has been regarded by some as a v... Read more

Critical Essay by James Wolcott [Peter De Vries] has been taking his cuts in the batting cage for quite a spell now, turning out twenty books of fiction in the last four decades. But a writer—... Read more

Critical Essay by Michiko Kakutani "I seem to bear my share of responsibility, for the chuckles and chortles, all of them naturally nervous and not a few hideously forced, that went around our... Read more