Mary Martin Rountree, in an article discussing the entirety of Bowles's work in translating Maghrebi stories, said it was an "altogether astonishing feat of sustained storytelling", and cites from the introduction, with approbation: "Bowles accurately singles out Charhadi's gifts in his introduction to "A Life Full of Holes": 'The good storyteller keeps the thread of his narrative almost taut at all points.