Lots of Fun at Finn Fordham’s Wake

This review examines Fordham’s adaptation of his knowledge of the Joycean archive to the problem of explicating the Wake. Fordham follows a limited number of passages through an extended process of revision. In this genetic exegesis, a postmodern perspective determines the meaning and intention of Joyce’s revisions. While Fordham’s grasp of the minutiae of his subject is sophisticated and extensive, his study may appear one-sided in its emphasis on the deconstructive aspect of the Wake and its rejection of the book’s cyclical and mythical thematics.