I finally finished the four books, and sought out commentary. I think this one is basically right--the books are great fun, and basically answer all important questions and there's no need to overthink them. But this one is also at least somewhat true, if you want everything answered, you'll probably be frustrated. (My guess as to why the narrator was telling the story was wrong, which wasn't surprising, since unpredictability was what I liked most about the books.)
Also while looking for discussion about the series, I found and enjoyed "The She-Wolf’s Hidden Grin" a short story by Michael Swanwick, apparently inspired by later books written by Wolfe. (Good story, but it's much darker in tone than The Book of the New Sun.)