Lawrence Manley (I995), 'Cony-catching: Anatomy of Anatomies', in Literature and Culture in Early Modern London, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, pp. 34I-55

Whether Cuthbert Cunny-Catcher is the creation of Robert Greene or of some unknown contemporary/39 his question is central to Greene's cony-catching enterprise. In fact, the very existence of such a fictionalized rogue reader as Cuthbert is a partial indication of the motives behind Greene's project, an extended apologia and example of the powers of fiction-making. As Greene himself hints more than once, the fictional artistry of these pamphlets at once conceals and flaunts its actual intentions.