 "Kirkus Reviews" wrote "some essays work better than others, but in general the collection is marred only by a few too many run-on sentences and the occasional quick ending, giving the impression that the author was writing to hit a certain word-count".The New York Times offered a more favorable assessment, noting that such collections of journalistic essays must "be timeless...remarkable and the voice so consistently engaging that it triumphs over lack of plot and sprawl of subject," but that Orlean "clears the bar with ease.