Upon its release, the novel received wide critical acclaim and became a surprise bestseller.

[1][2] The Other was adapted into a 1972 film of the same name directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Uta Hagen.

The novel was reprinted in a commemorative edition in 2012 by New York Review Books with an afterword by Dan Chaon.

[3] Set in 1935, the novel focuses on the sadistic relationship between two 13-year-old, identical twin boys: one of whom is well behaved while the other is a sociopath[citation needed] who wreaks havoc on his family's rural New England farm property.

[4] The book spent more than six months on the New York Times best-seller list and sold more than 3.5 million copies.