Ryan offers a series of nuanced, sensitive readings (attentive even down to the level of punctuation) of materialities and animalities in Woolf's writing [and] provides a fresh, vigorous reading-together of Woolf and theory that is deeply rewarding for the Woolf scholar, and to the wider community of scholars in literary studies and beyond. -- Lauren Elkin, Modernism/modernity 21.3, Sep 2014
Virginia Woolf and the Materiality of Theory is a brilliant romp through the venues of contemporary philosophical approaches to literature. It is clear that Derek Ryan is a harbinger of a new wave in Woolf studies, attentive to past scholarship but dedicated to the proposition that the union of Woolf's own theorizing with a whole new range of philosophical approaches will produce a more nuanced and refined appreciation of life as we know it. -- Elisa K. Sparks, Clemson University, South Carolina Review 47.1, 2014
Derek Ryan revitalizes theoretical approaches to reading modernist literature [and] contributes rich and timely readings Virginia Woolf and the Materiality of Theory demonstrates an impressive command of contemporary theories of materiality as well as an intimate knowledge of Woolf's novels and essays a welcome interruption of critical trends that would dispense with theory. -- Annie Dwyer, University of Washington, Woolf Studies Annual 20, 2014