One of the few aphorisms about character not to appear in Marjorie Garber’s compendious book about the subject is due to Albert Camus: “when one has no character, one must apply a method.” Garber has both. Her method is literary and cultural criticism: she focuses on language to the point that hers is more a history of the word “character” and its cognates than of character itself. Her character comes out in vibrant detours that are the highlights of the book.