By placing so much emphasis on matters of manner and social status, Donleavy has drawn the displeasure of some commentators who have accused him of a "tweedy smugness" and have described his writing as dominated by "a high Augustan and mock-Irish aloofness" which tends to hide behind "pluperfect wordsmanship." Donleavy, in his The History of the Ginger Man, expressed his devotion to words in a different way.

Recalling the people he associated with while he was composing The Ginger Man, Donleavy said that they "savored language, rolled it about on the tongue, tasted for its vintage and measuredly rationed it out to the waiting ears." Even in his explanation, however, Donleavy's determination to reach for a distinctive style is evident, and the combination of a sometimes arch tone with an almost hyper-sensitivity to the nuances of etiquette and decorum have made him vulnerable to charges of...