"Wait for Me. Michael," is a beautifully constructed document that works out its psychological puzzle about emerging maturity with neatness. As a novel, it is flat. It has a final chapter of benevolent summary that will offend readers who know the author's usual subtlety and strong sense of reality. Perhaps the most glaring advertisement of the weakness of the narrative is the fact that the plot turns not once, but twice, on an episode of eavesdropping. (p. 30)

Mary Louise Hector, in The New York Times Book Review (© 1961 by The New York Times Company; reprinted by permission), April 16, 1961.