Joyce’s Oceanic Masterpiece: A Review of E.L. Epstein’s A Guide through Finnegans Wake

E.L. Epstein’s A Guide through Finnegans Wake is the latest in an essential line of book-length aids to Joyce’s final work and represents an entire life’s worth of thought dedicated to the Wake. Epstein’s reading is unique in his rigorous understanding of the familial narrative and tidal spatio-temporal scheme of the Wake’s four books. This consistent commitment to schematic rigor very ably guides readers both new and experienced through the Wake’s most difficult sections, but at the same time does not easily admit or take into account other recent contributions to Joyce studies.