As a literary subject madness is a well-known invitation to melodrama and sentimentality. [In Birdy, however, William Wharton] has managed to present Birdy's unique obsession in an entirely matter-of-fact way, neither glamorizing nor belittling his lonely, affectionate, intelligent hero. The prosaism has its problems: Most readers will want to know much less about canaries than they read here, and the pedestrian language of both Birdy and Al, while convincingly realistic, is too limited to bear the weight of emotion that is placed upon it. But it puts us on Birdy's side as he tries to balance his inner and outer lives…. In spite of an overly literal style of narration and a false resolution at the end, this unusual first novel is well worth reading. (pp. 43-4)

Katha Pollitt, "Books in Brief: 'Birdy'," in Saturday Review (copyright © 1979 by Saturday Review; all rights reserved; reprinted by permission), Vol. 6, No...