Burns skillfully weaves together an ambitious volume that, instead of following a simple chronological path through Joyces work, deals in turn with a number of important topics: gesture, femininity, homosexuality, and nationalism, ending with an essay on language and typography in Finnegans Wake. All of these topics have been much discussed in Joyce studies, and it is a tribute to Burnss originality that she has new light to cast on all of them. Her attention to the humor of Joyces work is also to be applauded. Derek Attridge, editor of The Cambridge Companion to James Joyce
An extremely useful and vibrant book, Burns forges a new path that refuses heavy politicization or sexualization, yet is alert to all the questions posed by the texts. Jean-Michel Rabat, author of Joyce Upon the Void: The Genesis of Doubt
