Reading James Joyce An Introduction

Reading James Joyce is a ready-at-hand compendium and all-encompassing interpretive guide designed for teachers and students approaching Joyce’s writings for the first time, guiding readers to better understand Joyce’s works and the background from which they emerged. Meticulously organized, this text situates readers within the world of Joyce including biographical exploration, discussion of Joyce’s innovations and prominent works such as Dubliners, Ulysses, and Finnegans Wake, surveys of significant critical approaches to Joyce’s writings, and examples of alternative readings and contemporary responses. Each chapter will provide interpretive approaches to contemporary literary theories and key issues, including end-of-chapter strategies and extended readings for further engagement. This book also includes shorter assessments of Joyce’s lesser-known works—critical writings, drama, poetry, letters, epiphanies, and personal recollections—to contextualize the creative and social environments from which his most notable publications arose. This uniquely comprehensive guide to Joyce will be an invaluable and comprehensive resource for readers exploring the influential world of Joyce studies.

Introduction 1 Biography 2 Approaching Dubliners 3 Approaching A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man 4 Approaching Ulysses 5 Approaching Finnegans Wake 6 Approaching the Minor Works Appendices—Debunking popular myths about Joyce’s writings I. The Uncle Charles Principle II. The love life of Bloom and Molly III. The Dream of Finnegans Wake IV. Definitions of Modernism and Postmodernism V. Epiphanies, Epicleti, and Epiclets VI. Satiric and Serious Joyce: "The Holy Office," "Gas from a Burner," and "A Curious History" VII. Currency Terms with Selected Examples from Joyce’s Literary Works Chronology Bibliography Miscellaneous: Joyce Foundations and Journals

A. Nicholas Fargnoli is Professor of English and Dean Emeritus of Humanities at Molloy University in Rockville Centre, New York. He is founder of the Finnegans Wake Society of New York and past president of the James Joyce Society. He has published on James Joyce, William Faulkner, and ethics. Michael Patrick Gillespie is Professor of English at Florida International University. He has written books on film, literary theory, and the works of James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, and William Kennedy.