Malcolm's book created a sensation when in March 1989 it appeared in two parts in "The New Yorker" magazine. Roundly criticized upon first publication, the book is still controversial, although it has come to be regarded as a classic, according to Douglas McCollum. It ranks ninety-seventh in The Modern Library's list of the twentieth century's "100 Best Works of Nonfiction". McCollum wrote in the "Columbia Journalism Review", "In the decade after Malcolm's essay appeared, her once controversial theory became received wisdom."