James Joyce
1882–1941 · Irish (Dublin/Trieste/Paris/Zurich) · Literary Modernism
Known for: Author of Ulysses and Finnegans Wake—the most revolutionary novels of the 20th century
James Joyce left Ireland at 22 and never returned for more than brief visits, yet Dublin was the only subject of his entire literary output. He was poor for most of his life, supported by patrons. He had terrible eyesight—over 25 eye operations—and was nearly blind while writing Finnegans Wake.
Ulysses was banned for obscenity in the US and UK but is now universally recognized as the supreme modernist novel. Finnegans Wake is the most challenging book ever written—composed in a dream-language that fuses dozens of languages. He was arrogant, witty, a gifted tenor, and devoted to his partner Nora Barnacle.
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