[Simon delightedly immerses] himself in the minutiae of modern American upper-middle-class existence, which no one conveys with more authority—or, anyhow, more assiduity—than he…. Simon can see the eternal, if at all, only as an aspect of the temporal; for him, "the troubles of our proud and angry dust" means that the cleaning lady didn't come in this morning.

The problem with Simon for serious critics is that he is good enough to make them angry that he isn't better. There is something very real and recognizable in his work—something that leads them to demand from him more perspective on the world he writes about than he has. Along with the something real in his work is something very glib; and, paradoxically, it is the reality that makes the glibness so frustrating to contemplate….

Neil Simon's work is a true expression of his constituency—that is...