Burgess states in the Foreword of Here Comes Everybody, "After nearly fifty years of reading Joyce, it seems only right that I should pass on what I have learned of his methods to those who come fresh to his riches". And indeed his does this beautifully. Burgess covers the entire scope of Joyce's work, arranging the book into three chronological parts, Part 1 covering everything up to A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Parts 2 and 3 expounding Ulysses and Finnegans Wake respectively.

This book may be read as an introduction to Joyce, as an accompaniment while reading Joyce, or as a synopsis having read Joyce. My familiarity with Joyce's works could apply it to any one of those three categories. In the case of Finnegans Wake, however, I'm most certainly talking about the first. Burgess devotes a third of the book to elucidating this monster and quotes enough passages to illustrate the difficulty of the text, but in the process gives me a curiosity that will some day result in further study.

My final thought; it seems a Shem to me that later editions of this book were renamed to Re Joyce, I preferred Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker. ( )

Still working on this book actually. As I plow through Joyce, I read more of this, a wonderful guide. ( )

I'm very pleased with this book. Not only is it on point and information it also has enough writerly style in it that I can't help but keep turning the page even if I didn't find the section on Finnegans Wake to be helpful. I think Burgess should've focused on Dubliners and A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man more. But these quibbles aside the Ulysses section of the book was absolutely inspired. I loved his thoughts on what were going to be the ramifications of Bloomsday and how he made it even bigger than what had been apparent from the book and other books I've read about the book. It was a treat having re-confirmed in my mind that Bloom ate liver and bacon on that day while his companion ate steak and kidney pie. I love Joyce books and I love books on Joyce almost as much. ( )

An enthusiastic guide to "Ulysses", and to "Finnegan's Wake". I still haven't tried more than a few pages of "Finnegan's Wake", but I had no trouble with "Ulysses". Burgess, no mean novelist himself, was a great fan, and the book was a pleasant introduction to the word-puzzler's novels. ( )

It might be that Burgess is the best equipped to deal with Joyce, Robert Anton Wilson is no slouch on the subject. ( )