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Page 145
J. Francis McComas
First published in the magazines of 1945, Lewis Padgett's famed series of "Baldy" stories rank today as the classic exploration of all the ramifications of that inevitable conflict between man andnot superman, but psi-man. Those tales of the hairless telepaths are now gathered together and published as a novel (Mutant); this novelistic unification does not seem at all strained, since each story was originally a single episode in a general history. In fact, when read in sequence they add up to such a brilliant total that the connecting device added in the present volume seems an awkward, distracting appendage. (. . .)
So perfect, so complete is this study of people with extra talents that all writers who have tried the theme since Padgett's first story have been confined within his all-embracing framework. And, as always, Lewis Padgett propounds his ideas in a beguiling story rich in reading entertainment.
J. Francis McComas, "Spaceman's Realm," New York Times Book Review, 20 December 1953, p. 17
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James Blish
The reappearance of Lewis Padgett in the September, 1953 Astoundingand with that Baldy story, at thatprovides a fresh reminder for those of us who need it of how many worlds the Kuttners are away from the technical universe occupied by most of the new writers. "Humpty Dumpty" is not, to my eyes, the best Baldy story of the series, partly because it has its share of the symbols of resignation and defeat which have been creeping into the Kuttners' most recent writings, but it is an object lesson in how to construct a science-fiction novelette.
It manages to be so in spite of the fact that its basic construction follows a plan developed by the Kuttners a long time ago, and follows it rather mechanically at that. Padgett stories for years have begun in just this way: The narrative hook, almost always dealing with incipient violence, madness, or both; enough development of the hook to lead the story into a paradox; then a complete suspension of the story while the authors lecture the reader on the background for a short time, seldom more than 1,000 words. The lecture technique is generally taboo for fiction, especially in the hands of new writers, and only two science-fiction writers have managed to get away with it and make the reader like it, Heinlein being the other. "Humpty Dumpty" is no exception; it follows the pattern so predictably as to suggest that the Kuttners do not have their entire attention on their work.

 
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