Ladies' Man is an effective depiction of loneliness, and Richard Price is an expert on the fulsome and frenzied aspects of New York City. Kenny Becker is a perfectly conceived character; so perfect, in fact, that he is thoroughly unpleasant to listen to at book-length. The clichés, the hipness, the latest urban argot, the masculinity so overweening that it whines—in short, the unrelenting gracelessness, however true to the social type Kenny represents, demands a high degree of tolerance or a peculiar affection for dialect. But that is a native New Yorker's reaction: outside city limits Kenny may well be considered good company. (p. 97)

Jeffrey Burke, in Harper's (copyright © 1978 by Harper's Magazine; all rights reserved; reprinted from the October, 1978 issue by special permission), October, 1978.