false 164434 12 Although several biographers have thrown themselves into the breach since this magisterial book first appeared in 1959, none have come close to matching the late Richard Ellmann's achievement. To be fair, Ellmann does have some distinct advantages. For starters, there's his deep mastery of the Irish milieu--demonstrated not only in this volume but in his books on Yeats and Wilde. He's also an admirable stylist himself--graceful, witty, and happily unintimidated by his brilliant subjects. But in addition, Ellmann seems to have an uncanny grasp on Joyce's personality: his reverence for the Irishman's literary accomplishment is always balanced by a kind of bemused affection for his faults. Whether Joyce is putting the finishing touches on <i>Ulysses</i>, falling down drunk in the streets of Trieste, or talking dirty to his future wife via the postal service, Ellmann's account always shows us a genius <i>and</i> a human being--a daunting enough task for a fiction writer, let alone the poor, fact-fettered biographer. 2880132 book 1981 James Joyce (Oxford Lives) total:235|5:120|4:83|3:26|2:6|1:0| 235 1022 382 24 5 2 false false Tue Jun 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 22 01:39:12 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 22 02:19:58 -0700 2008 Ulysses or the Wake and was not initially baffled. Even after staying the coarse, reading and re-reading, to get one's head around it (two years!), one must have to say in his or her head: What could have been going on this man's mind? I perso...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Aug 31 08:15:24 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 31 08:19:43 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Aug 18 21:28:40 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 04 21:40:28 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 18 21:28:40 -0700 2008
And the fact that he drove his loved ones, companions, and pretty much all his contemporaries absolutely crazy...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Apr 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 21 02:19:32 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 18 19:05:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Wed Nov 25 23:18:38 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 25 23:19:29 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Jun 16 11:09:23 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 16 11:10:35 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun Dec 07 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 20 04:44:20 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 20 04:52:02 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1984 Wed Jan 14 05:20:44 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 14 05:21:44 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Apr 06 15:51:35 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 06 15:54:42 -0700 2009
Annoying that there's...more...]]> 0 0 false false Sun Jul 26 19:30:31 -0700 2009 Thu Jan 01 15:47:46 -0800 2009 Sun Jul 26 19:30:31 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Mar 01 03:22:23 -0800 2007 Thu Mar 01 03:23:50 -0800 2007 3 0 false false Thu Jun 07 10:03:49 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 07 10:09:20 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 02 12:59:29 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 02 13:00:16 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Wed Mar 19 18:51:30 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 29 14:48:29 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Thu Feb 07 08:27:46 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 07 08:28:26 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Fri Feb 01 11:37:20 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 04 10:03:39 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Sat Mar 10 12:08:14 -0800 2007 Sat Mar 10 12:08:14 -0800 2007 5 0 false false Tue Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 1998 Thu Jul 26 14:00:34 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 26 14:00:34 -0700 2007 0 0 false false Sun Apr 06 15:59:37 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 06 15:59:58 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Fri May 02 11:00:59 -0700 2008 Sun Jan 27 10:08:08 -0800 2008 Fri May 02 11:00:59 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=164434