What Is Life in the UK as perhaps the strongest of all of Harrison's singles. Writing in 1981, "NME" critic Bob Woffinden grouped "What Is LIfe" with "My Sweet Lord", "Isn't It a Pity" and "Awaiting on You All" as "all excellent songs". Reviewing the 2001 reissue of "All Things Must Pass", for "Rolling Stone", James Hunter wrote of how the album's music "exults in breezy rhythms", among which "the colorful revolutions of 'What Is Life' ... [move] like a Ferris wheel". The following year, in Rolling Stone Press's "Harrison" tribute book, David Fricke included "What Is Life" among his selection of "essential
What Is the What writes: "Over the course of many years, Dave and I have collaborated to tell my story... I told [him] what I knew and what I could remember, and from that material he created this work of art." The book is typical of Eggers' style: blending non-fictional and fictional elements into a non-fiction novel or memoir. By classifying the book a novel, Eggers says, he freed himself to re-create conversations, streamline complex relationships, add relevant detail and manipulate time and space in helpful ways—all while maintaining the essential truthfulness of the storytelling. However, not all critics were impressed. Lee Siegel sees