Donleavy's career stretches across four decades, and although there are themes and motifs that recur, his work is much more than a repetitive turn on a few familiar ideas. Nonetheless, the striking (and continuing) success of The Ginger Man has certainly been a factor both in sustaining Donleavy's reputation and in continuing to draw the interest of readers. Donleavy has acknowledged this by exploring the place of that book in his life in The History of The Ginger Man (1994).

His reflective considerations in preparing The History of The Ginger Man may have been a part of the genesis of The Laay Who Liked Clean Restrooms since the consequences of the actions of Sebastian Dangerfield and of other ginger men might not appear as amusing in 1995 as in 1955.

Without removing the appeal of men like Dangerfield, Donleavy has been willing to recognize the repulsive, remarkably self-protective tactics...