Not really for the Gide beginner, this book nevertheless contains extremely subtle readings of Gide's work in an attempt to reveal his (often fairly disingenuous) political and sexual strategies. Lucey is careful to give both the original French and his own translations of some of the more sticky, controversial, or just plain mindblowing passages that are made more controversial and certainly far more mindblowing by Lucey's interpretations. Though the book did take some getting into, the effort was well worth it: It's absolutely one of the most stunning "thematic" studies of any author I've ever read. Even though Lucey tries to make things more comfortable and enlightening by providing some biographical context and synopses, I'd recommend reading at least half the novels first and familiarizing oneself with Gide's biography beforehand. Gide's "classicism" will never be the same again, will never have that whiff of stodginess about it that the word implies...