"Chocolates" is one of Simpson's more popular later poems. He has written an essay on how he composed the poem and what reactions to it have been, which initially appeared in Forty-Five Contemporary Poets: The Creative Process, edited by Alberta Turner. The essay has subsequently been reprinted in a few anthologies and in Simpson's own Selected Prose. In the essay Simpson notes that the poem has had favorable reactions from the public. The poet writes "I recall a letter in theLondon Times praising 'Chocolates' because, the letter-writer said, it showed that poetry could be understood."

In the introduction to On Louis Simpson: Depths Beyond Happiness, editor and critic Hank Lazer wrote that with Caviare at the Funeral, the collection in which "Chocolates" appears, "Simpson achieved consistent mastery of his new narrative style." Lazer pointed out that from this collection on, Simpson received renewed attention from critics...