Reflecting on Mateiu's growing popularity, Matei Călinescu has argued that "Craii..." is to Romanian literature what "El Aleph" is in the eponymous Jorge Luis Borges story: a place containing all other conceivable places. In his 2008 synthesis, "Istoria critică a literaturii române" ("The Critical History of Romanian Literature"), Nicolae Manolescu revisits George Călinescu's pronouncements on interwar literature. Manolescu places Mateiu Caragiale, Max Blecher, Anton Holban and Ion Pillat, all of whom do not take the forefront in Călinescu's work, among their generation's "canonical writers". A diverging opinion was expressed by literary critic and Anglicist Mircea Mihăieș, who suggested that, despite the theoretical potential presented by Mateiu's lifestyle and background, "Craii..." is primarily a poorly written work, characterized by "a disconcerting naïvite", "kitsch" aesthetics and "embarrassing affectations". Mihăieș, who believes that Caragiale's only valuable writings are "Pajere" and his private correspondence, further suggests that Caragiale's various admirers, including exegetes such as Matei Călinescu, Vasile Lovinescu, Ovidiu Cotruș and Ion Negoițescu, are responsible for overvaluing their favorite author.