SOURCE: A review of Angels at the Ritz, in The Spectator, Vol. 235, No. 7689, November 8, 1975, pp. 604-05.

An English biographer, critic, nonfiction writer, poet, and editor, Ackroyd is known for his novels that focus upon the interaction between artifice and reality and emphasize the ways in which contemporary art and life are profoundly influenced by events and creations of the past. In the following excerpt, he offers a positive assessment of the stories comprising Angels at the Ritz.

Angels at the Ritz is one of the most imaginative and substantial books I have read this year; the fact that it is a volume of short stories is probably beside the point, although it may be an indication of the way good English writing is going. Perhaps the most interesting writer of my own generation, for example—Ian McEwan—has gained a reputation through just one volume of short stories...