The notion that the "indestructible bourgeois class" has won references the collapse of the Soviet bloc in 1991.
The "Spider Dance" of the title refers to "a wilde caper enhanced in its comedic effect by wild contortions," performed by James Joyce to amuse and/or embarrass his friends (Bowker 234; see also Fischer 85-86).
"Flunthorn" is usually spelled differently ("Fluntern") - but rather than seeing this as a simple mistake, it can instead be regarded as a sort of homage to James Joyce's love for word creation (e.g. "gracehoppers," in Finnegans Wake).
