A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man--------------------------------------------------Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow comingdown along the road and this moocow that was coming down along theroad met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo ' So begins one of themost significant literary works of the twentieth century, and one ofthe most innovative. Its originality shocked contemporary readerson its publication in 1916 who found its treating of the minutiae ofdaily life indecorous, and its central character unappealing. Wasit art or was it filth? The novel charts the intellectual, moral, andsexual development of Stephen Dedalus, from his childhood listeningto his father's stories through his schooldays and adolescence to thebrink of adulthood and independence, and his awakening as an artist.Growing up in a Catholic family in Dublin in the final years of thenineteenth century, Stephen's consciousness is forged by Irish historyand politics, by Catholicism and culture, language and art. Stephen'sstory mirrors that of Joyce himself, and the novel is both startlinglyrealistic and brilliantly crafted.For this edition Jeri Johnson, editorof the acclaimed Ulysses 1922 text, has written an introduction andnotes which together provide a comprehensive and illuminating appreciationof Joyce's artistry.