"The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind" was a successful work of popular science, selling out the first print run before a second could replace it.The book was a nominee for the National Book Award in 1978, and received dozens of positive book reviews, including those by well-known critics such as John Updike in "The New Yorker", Christopher Lehmann-Haupt in the "New York Times", and Marshall McLuhan in the Toronto "Globe and Mail".