SOURCE: "Laforgue in English," in The New York Times Book Review, December 23, 1928, pp. 12-13.

In the following review, the critic praises Moral Tales for its originality and irony.

The embarrassment of attempting to describe or classify [Six Moral Tales] in any of the usual ways is so great that the several renowned critics quoted on the cover are driven to the most desperate extensions of their critical vocabulary. Perhaps Remy de Gourmont best expresses the unanimous dismay before its originality when he writes that the book belongs to that class of "disconcerting literature which gives you the curious (and very rare) sensation that you have never read anything like it before." It is not proper, for example, briefly to dispose of Laforgue as one of the symbolistes; for, although there is much symbolism in his stories, there are too many other disturbing and inconsistent elements to allow him...