In "Finnegans Wake "Joyce uses world literature, great and small, sacred and profane, as one of the most important and frequent of his sources. Setting out to explore these literary allusions, Mr. Atherton sheds a great deal of light upon other aspects of Joyce s work. Entire chapters are devoted to such major figures as Swift and Lewis Carroll, while less important influences are grouped together under such headings as The Irish Writers and The Fathers of the Church. He also surveys the various interpretations of "Finnegans Wake," " "and makes use of the "Letters of James Joyce "and the manuscript of "Finnegans Wake "in the British Museum."