The Ugly Little Boy has at least one significant flaw in its construction— the "ape-boy" epithet is not entirely credible. The term comes from journalists who sound like stereotypes from 1930s gangster movies: "Sure, sure," said the gentleman from the Times Herald, "But is that really a Neanderthal or is this some kind of gag?"

Who ever actually talked like that?

Probably no one. Even modern tabloid journalists who might well invent a term "ape-boy" would not talk like that. This is the only off note in an otherwise virtuoso performance, and it may reflect Asimov's ignorance of journalism even while the story displays his profound understanding of science and scientists.

The novella is tightly structured and wastes no space. Each event is carefully foreshadowed by earlier passages; even the melodramatic conclusion is so well presaged that it seems an entirely natural outcome of events...