People was a favorite with all critics and other authors. It was called Dowell's masterpiece. Supporters of this novel included Tennessee Williams, Gilbert Sorrentino, Ihab Hassan, and Walter Abish, but reviews were still not as plentiful as had been the case with his first novel. The New York Times called it "a work of art" and brought Dowell some national attention. Too Much Flesh and Jabez was the least reviewed of Dowell's novels. The New York Times, nevertheless, called it "a tour de force." White on Black on White received many, but mixed, reviews. Dowell was given a tribute before the publication of his last novel in the Fall 1982 issue of The Review of Contemporary Fiction. This issue, called the Paul Bowles-Coleman Dowell number, contains the major critical articles on Dowell which had appeared up to this date. Throughout the 1970s, Dowell maintained a working relationship with critic and author, Richard Lebherz. Lebherz encouraged Dowell's literary ambitions. Dowell received critical praise from the leading authors and critics of his day. Reviewers often cited the complexity of his style, but, as Edmund White wrote in a 1976 New York Times review of "Island People", "Once inside the book, the reader encounters teeming, charged emotions dark and restive with pain." He never received the popular support he so desperately needed. His later years were plagued by ill health. Although there were good times, Dowell could not escape feelings of disillusionment, suicide, or as he put it, "the balcony beckons me." In the early morning hours on Saturday August 3, 1985, Dowell, reportedly despondent, leapt from his 15th floor apartment balcony overlooking Fifth Avenue. As is the case with so many other writers or artists, the attention focused on Coleman Dowell accelerated after his death. In 1987, The Houses of Children: Collected Stories was published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson and this publishing company also reissued One of the Children is Crying. Too Much Flesh and Jabez was also made available via the Dalkey Archive Press. Three major works by Dowell were left unfinished. These include Eve of the Green Grass, a novel; Dowell's autobiography entitled, A Dark Book and his private journal 1968–1984 which is a running diary of his life, writings, attitude towards people, and also includes personal observations for stories. Two excerpts from A Dark Book had been published earlier in Bomb magazine under the titles: At Home with Drosselmeier