The essays are on various topics, described by the author as "ranging from lady barristers to cavemen, and from psychoanalysis to free verse.

[2] Described in the author's words as "sketches," "notes," "visions," "idle journalistic jottings" or "frivolous essays," each chapter deals with a different fad.

[3][4] Published by Dodd, Mead & Co., it is considered a typifying example of Chesterton's criticism of modernity and was described by The Nation as "almost a complete collection of [his] antipathies.

"[8] A review from the Oakland Tribune described Fancies Versus Fads as Chesterton at his best, and said that few modern essays were as good as those from the book.

B. Priestley, writing in The Spectator, noted that he believed the book was the same as previous Chesterton essay collections, except for it being on controversial topics and that "the style ... is not quite so good as it used to be; it is more fixed and more wordy.