PositiveThe New York Review of BooksThe Hypocrite is a natural but significant development from Three Rooms ... Hamya’s insightful, specific descriptions complicate...familiar types ... In [one] scene more than any other, Hamya seems to flinch from the otherwise gratifyingly large trust she places in the reader’s intelligence, in our ability to culturally contextualize Sophia’s family and their art ... There is something off in the final pages, too ... This novel needs no apologies. The Hypocrite is wise about art and writing, tender about family and the bewildering march of time, and smart about the ways cultural conflicts touch individual lives. At once ironic and humane, it trades most satisfyingly on tragedies and comedies of self-delusion.
Helen DeWitt
RaveWashington PostPart of a series of New Directions \'storybooks\' meant to be read in a single sitting, The English Understand Wool is a little gift to DeWitt’s (often ardent) readers and an inviting primer for readers new to her. DeWitt is one of our most ingenious writers, a master of the witty fable, and she pulls off her trick here through marvelous specificity of voice and a plot that hums like German machinery.
