The House of Ulysses

Book excerpt: Juli'n R'os's latest comic extravaganza is at once a serious literary excavation and a lecture as delivered by Groucho Marx on the subject of that great (and often imposing) cornerstone of world literature: James Joyce's "Ulysses." Every book is born out of an earlier book (or books), and much as Joyce's novel unraveled Homer scene by scene, R'os's "The House of Ulysses" returns the favor, giving us the story of several bickering characters hoping to get to the bottom of Joyce's masterpiece (by force, if necessary), their conversation walking the line between a slapstick parody of the Joyce industry and a legitimate "guide for the perplexed." Focusing on each of Ulysses' characters, ideas, and references in turn, "The House of Ulysses" provides a playful, punning, ideal companion for the experienced Joycean and cautious Ulysses-procrastinator alike: one novel dreaming its way through another.