SOURCE: Review of Parlor, Bedlam and Bath, in The New York Times Book Review, November 30, 1950, p. 9.

In the following laudatory review, the unsigned critic examines Perelman's humorous narratives.

In Parlor, Bedlam and Bath the Messrs. Perelman and [Q. J.] Reynolds have collaborated in an amusing and at times genuinely hilarious burlesque. The bad pun of the novel's title is no index to the nonsense in the bulk of the written matter. With a shaky skeleton of a narrative, the authors have dedicated themselves to the sole purpose of being entertaining and they have succeeded brilliantly.

The story, in its snatches of lucidity, celebrates the exploits of one Chester Tattersall, the dizzy son of a ne'er-do-well father who is providentially relieved of a life of clerking by the death of his uncle, Mameluke. Mameluke had had a talent for accumulating money and Chester found himself a gentleman of leisure...