You don't need exegesis to discover what the words in the bible mean, however, unless you have a priori assigned the authors some authority.
If you haven't, then you can just crack it open and see what it says and if any of the stuff in it means anything to you.
And I think for a creative work, rather than politics/history/fable/myth/theology like the bible, if it doesn't stand on its own as a work of art without reference to anything outside the text/work, then it has failed.