His autobiographical pieces, marked by acid comments on Greek-language education, and, in this respect, similar to the writings of his friend Costache Negruzzi, also display a dose of self-irony. The enduring polemic with Grigore Alexandrescu, as well as his quarrel with Bolliac, formed the basis of his pamphlet "Domnul Sarsailă autorul" ("Mr. Old Nick, the Author"), an attack on what Heliade viewed as writers whose pretensions contrasted with their actual mediocrity. In other short prose works, Ion Heliade Rădulescu commented on the caricature-like nature of "parvenu" Bucharesters (the male prototype, "Coconul Drăgan", was "an ennobled hoodlum", while the female one, "Coconiţa Drăgana", always wished to be the first in line for the unction).