Manik Banerjee made his first appearance in Vangasri with his Divaratrir Kavya (A Poem of the Day and the Night) published as a book in 1935 and followed by Putul Nacher Itikatha (The Chronicles of a Puppet dance, 1936). These two novels attracted attention and the author was greeted as an original writer who has his own angle of vision and direction of approach. His short and long stories which appeared subsequently show him to be a keen observer of the inner and outer life of the common man in rural setting. But in his later stories and novels the psychologist and propagandist in him have often come out to the detriment of literature.
The best known novels and books of short stories by Banerjee, besides those already mentioned, are the following: Janani (Mother, 1935), Atasi mami (Aunt Atasi, 1935), Padmanadir Majhi (The Boatman of the River Padma, 1936), Pragaitihasik (Pre-historical, 1937), Mihi O Mota Kahini (Stories of thin and thick, 1938), sahartali (The Suburb; two vols., 1940-41), Haludpoda (Burnt Turmeric, 1945), Chatuskon (Four-square, 1948), Sonar Cheye dami (More precious than Gold; two vols.,1951-52), Haraph (Type, 1954), Halud Nadi Sabuj Ban (The yellow River and the Green Forest, 1956), etc.