St Pierre not only analyzes and presents an overview of Humphries' oeuvre, he also casts that oeuvre in social and historical perspective ... this book is engagingly written, full of fascinating observations and anecdotes, and highly informative. It reads like an evening of the music hall it portrays, moving kaleidoscopically from one segment of Humphries' artistic life to another.
A fresh contribution to the writings that focus on the life, career, and art of Barry Humphries ... The general reader will find Humphries' wide, diverse body of work and experience in show business rather startling (personally, my reaction was one of awe and amazement as to how talented and diverse Humphries really is). Examples include the creation and evolution of Dame Edna, Sir Les Patterson and why the character is so vulgar, and his first foray into book publishing… an excellent example of sound scholarship and methodology, and plenty of thorough, in-depth research for the subject at hand.