When Vernon God Little was first published in 2003, it received a wide range of critical responses. Some praised the novel, while others saw it as nothing more than an unfunny and uneven effort by a fledgling writer. This critical split decision even led to speculation that American reviewers were incapable of seeing the humor in a book that offers such a scathing critique of their own society.

In the Guardian, one of Britain's premier newspapers, Carrie O'Grady described the novel as "a startling and excellent debut." O'Grady also called the character of Vernon as "a brilliant comic creation." Joanne Wilkinson, in a review for Booklist, describes the book as "scatological, irreverent, crass, and very, very funny," and asserted that "Pierre is a comic anarchist with talent to spare." According to Wilkinson, "Every page is saturated with a humor that barely masks Pierre's contempt for the media...