James Joyce: A Biography Book

In almost every recent poll Ulysses has been acclaimed the greatest novel of the twentieth century. It is generally regarded as one of the outstanding landmarks of literary modernism as important as T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land in expressing the experimental and international spirit of post-war Europe in the 1920s. Of all the modernists James Joyce has had probably the most lasting effect on serious fiction. Ulysses was not readily available in unexpurgated form during his lifetime. However the slow but certain impact of that book on the wider consciousness is undeniable. Indeed Eliot said he had 'killed the nineteenth century'.Joyce's life followed the classic 'flight into exile' path taken by many creative writers in search of a broader vision. His fight against Irish parochial prejudices and censoriousness casts him in a heroic light. His dedication to authorship also picks him out as a writer in the romantic tradition of total commitment suffering near-poverty and financial dependency for much of his life in his determination simply to write. He was fortunate in his benefactors. Four women in particular (Harriet Shaw Weaver Margaret Anderson Sylvia Beach and Adrienne Monnier) through their generosity ensured that Joyce was able to focus fully and continuously on his great literary projects Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. Richard Ellman's much admired biography of Joyce first appeared in 1959 and was republished in 1982. No one has attempted seriously to move beyond that biographical milestone. Given a new century and the new material now available a new life of Joyce would be very timely. Moreover Gordon Bowker's approach to Joyce is directed more towards the inner man than Ellman ever attempted.