A treat for those readers who appreciate wrestling with a beast of a novel.
A happy centenary birthday tribute for a literary classic.
Acclaimed Irish novelist Tóibín gathers original essays and interviews for the latest volume in the publisher’s History of the Book series. Collectively, the pieces venture incisively into what James Joyce called his “damned monster-novel.” Avoiding the usual tropes and time-worn critical approaches to the novel, these essays are fresh and accessible to general readers. Tóibín begins with a probing essay on the novel’s often overlooked historical setting in 1904 Ireland and England. Exploring the intimate, complex role of Dublin in the novel, Anne Fogarty invites readers to “surmise things the text does not tell us, an impulse that would be a misstep in the case of most other fictions.” Three essays reveal how much the places where Joyce lived influenced the composition of Ulysses: Trieste; Zurich, where he wrote a large portion of the novel; and Paris, “perhaps the only city in the world where Ulysses could come to fruition and find publication,” according to Catherine Flynn. In Paris, Joyce found stability, financial support, and fame. In the intriguing “Revisioning Ulysses,” Maria DiBattista notes that Joyce “composed [the novel] with an eye for accuracy that would satisfy not only the town gossip but also the municipal engineer,” as he gradually devised new linguistic techniques to portray his characters. After an essay dealing with the historical and legal issues surrounding the novel’s famous censorship trials, Derick Dreher writes about Joyce’s handwritten, heavily edited Ulysses manuscripts and the fascinating history behind them. In 1924, they sold at auction for $1,975. Bibliophiles will savor James Maynard’s essay about the world’s largest collection of Joyceana, at the University of Buffalo—“unmatched glimpses into his writing process and literary relationships”—and how it was assembled. The book also includes excellent illustrations.
A treat for those readers who appreciate wrestling with a beast of a novel.Pub Date: May 31, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-271-09289-8
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Penn State Univ.
Review Posted Online: March 25, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorkerstaff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
A frank and funny but uneven essay collection about neurodiversity.
An experimental, illustrated essay collection that questions neurotypical definitions of what is normal.
From a young age, writer and comedian Myers has been different. In addition to coping with obsessive compulsive disorder and panic attacks, she struggled to read basic social cues. During a round of seven minutes in heaven—a game in which two players spend seven minutes in a closet and are expected to kiss—Myers misread the romantic advances of her best friend and longtime crush, Marley. In Paris, she accidentally invited a sex worker to join her friends for “board games and beer,” thinking he was simply a random stranger who happened to be hitting on her. In community college, a stranger’s request for a pen spiraled her into a panic attack but resulted in a tentative friendship. When the author moved to Australia, she began taking notes on her colleagues in an effort to know them better. As the author says to her co-worker, Tabitha, “there are unspoken social contracts within a workplace that—by some miracle—everyone else already understands, and I don’t….When things Go Without Saying, they Never Get Said, and sometimes people need you to Say Those Things So They Understand What The Hell Is Going On.” At its best, Myers’ prose is vulnerable and humorous, capturing characterization in small but consequential life moments, and her illustrations beautifully complement the text. Unfortunately, the author’s tendency toward unnecessary capitalization and experimental forms is often unsuccessful, breaking the book’s otherwise steady rhythm.
A frank and funny but uneven essay collection about neurodiversity.Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9780063381308
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
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