Pinktoes belongs to the long tradition of literary satire, which has included a remarkably wide range of writing, from the bitterly indignant anger of Juvenal in his great satires, to the urbane wit of Evelyn Waugh in his comic novels. Generally, whatever the target and tone of attack, satire has been justified by those who practice it as a corrective of human vice and folly; by drawing attention to human errors, the satirist hopes to eliminate them. Pinktoes, however, suggests little hope of redemptive change in the characters, as even three of the chapter titles indicate: "But Drunks Keep Right on Drinking," "She Keep Right On She-ing," and "Hes Keep Right On He-ing." Himes takes for granted a world permanently full of stupidities, follies, and crimes.

His cynical tone implies that if people cannot demonstrate even basic common sense, then there is little point in offering...