[8] Patrick deWitt credits numerous writers and artists in the novel's acknowledgements as his influences while writing the book, including Thomas Bernhard, Ivy Compton-Burnett, Italo Calvino, Dennis Cooper, Robert Coover, Roald Dahl, J. P. Donleavy, C.F., Knut Hamsun, Sammy Harkham, Werner Herzog, Bohumil Hrabal, Shirley Jackson, Pär Lagerkvist, Harry Mathews, Steven Millhauser, Jean Rhys, Robert Walser, and Eudora Welty.

[13] In his review for The New York Times, author Daniel Handler praised deWitt for subverting genres in the novel and wrote that it "offers the same delights as the fairy tales and adventure stories it takes on".

[14] Colin Dwyer of NPR also praised deWitt's genre blending and the character of Lucien Minor for giving the novel a "genuine earnestness", but criticized the novel's pacing for being rushed.

[2] Writing for The Guardian, novelist Liz Jensen felt elements of the novel's plot were often predictable and criticized the protagonist Lucy for lacking the "complexity and nuance" of Eli from The Sisters Brothers, but nonetheless praised the success of the novel's backdrop and deWitt's "frolicsome chain of intrigues".

[11] Steve Nathans-Kelly of Paste gave the novel an 8.5 out of 10 rating, writing, "deWitt has somehow created a fable in which the comic narrative voice is impossibly accomplished, and nearly every word is funny.