[2] Erich Hertz wrote in the Scottish Literary Review that Bucket of Tongues opens with an incident where a home has been broken into or is "perceived as in some way violated".

Hertz argues that the break-in, or the imminent commination, and the "onslaught on domestic safety perpetrated by it, can be seen as symptomatic of a larger, all-embracing anxiety at a national level".

[3] Diana Casey of the Guide to Literary Masters & Their Works says this collection of short stories is "particularly intense and raw" ... and that McLean "brings to light the harsh life of Scotland’s unemployed and down-and-out ... the characters live a day-to-day existence, hidden behind objectionable assertiveness, and they often must turn to thievery to survive".

[4] Walker Gaffney wrote in The New York Times that McClean uses a "keen objective eye with an ear for the slang of Aberdeenshire pubs to evoke a world view both funny and bleak".

They opine that McLean's stories "imply a quickened, redemptive understanding of human behavior through dialogue that feels unspeakably sad ... with raw and realistic blasts of street-level life".