[6] Critic with The New York Times, Herbert Mitgang, notes that "Shaw was most admired for his short stories of the 1930's and 40's, which served as a model for an entire generation of writers.

"[7] Mitgang adds: "Stylistically, Mr. Shaw's short stories were noted for their directness of language, the quick strokes with which he established his different characters, and a strong sense of plotting.

"[9] Though critical assessment was widely supportive of the collection, Shnayerson notes that Alfred Kazin regarded many of the stories as "thoroughly bad," dubbing Shaw "half a writer.

"[10] "These depression era stories work because Shaw presents characters who are too defeated or too confused by the sheer struggle for survival to protest effectively.

—Biographer James R. Giles in Irwin Shaw (1983)[11] Biographer and critic James R. Giles enumerates the thematic elements evident in Sailor Off the Bremen, as well as Shaw's second volume of short fiction, Welcome to the City and Other Stories (1942): Three thematic concerns were dominant in these first two volumes: the effects of the depression on the middle and lower classes; the threat to American values inherent in the rise of fascism at home and abroad; and the moral shallowness of the core of the American success story.