Other than the Boston Globe, critics were unimpressed with Amis's coming-of-age story set during the carefree 1970s. Despite his celebrated wit and sparkling prose, Amis takes too many detours, and his persistent lectures on the frustrations of growing old and the sexual revolution's long-term effects thwart the book's narrative momentum. Critics also complained that, in lieu of character development, Amis dully differentiates his creations by their peculiar traits and (for females) chest-waist-hip ratios. But his greatest mistake, according to the New York Times, is "assuming that readers will be interested in a bunch of spoiled, self-absorbed twits, who natter on endlessly about their desires and resentments and body parts." Though Amis is a gifted and frequently hilarious writer, readers may wish to pass on The Pregnant Widow. This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.