A timeless study of a man who revolutionized the literary landscape.
James Joyce (1882–1941) is hailed as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. Rejecting his homeland and its religion as a young man, Joyce went on to reinvent the Dublin of his youth in his fiction. His masterpiece,Ulysses—once banned in Britain and the United States—redefined the modern novel and has become a canonical classic.Finnegans Wake, written as Joyce’s eyesight deteriorated, cemented his legacy as one of the founding figures of modernist literature.
In a revised edition of this lucid and compelling biography, containing a new foreword from the author, crucial events in Joyce’s life, from his self-imposed exile to his creative triumphs, are explored vividly. Ian Pindar reveals how Joyce’s work carefully blends the abstract and the mundane, capturing the great human comedy of which we are all part.
Ian Pindaris a poet, translator, editor, and regular book critic for several UK newspapers.
Preface 1
From Baby Tuckoo to Sunny Jim 21
The Dante of Dublin 41
The Wanderer 55
Nora 67
Self exiled upon his ego 79
Ominous for him! 93
Litterarum Anglicarum Pontifex Maximus 105
The Blue Book of Eccles 133
O! Infamy! 149
The Strangest Dream that was ever Halfdreamt 157
Inkbattle 179
Envoy: mememormee! 203
Notes 209
List of Works 236
Further Reading 238
Acknowledgements 247
Index 248
"Pindar has skillfully made the process of understanding the complex relationship between Joyce’s life and work fun again."
"Pindar's short, crisp and enjoyable new biography is an easy-going introduction to the man and his work."
"Pindar manages gracefully to pack a wealth of information into this brief study.&qul“