"What is the moral of Applebroog's stories. It's impossible to say. We don't know how they will come out. In part this results from a refusal on her part to provide happy endings as an inducement to endure the stress of paying attention. In part this results from the fact that these scenarios describe a society, and unlike stories centering on individual fates, societies do not offer dramatic closure but instead guarantee a constant change in the imbalance of forces that define their character. The flaws in the character of America are revealed by what Applebroog does in the context of its compensatory fantasies. The satisfactions to be derived from their unresolved antagonism are the awkward satisfactions of living without illusions in the midst of the illusions we cherish most."
Robert Storr about Ida Applebroog