Book Launch: Reading James Joyce 

A conversation between co-authors Nicholas Fargnoli and Michael Patrick Gillespie, moderated by James Joyce Society President, Jonathan Goldman.

Preceded by “A Tribute to Nicholas Fargnoli,” featuring remarks about the former Joyce Society President by Alison Armstrong, Heyward Ehrlich, and and Michael Patrick Gillespie

Reading James Joyce is a ready-at-hand compendium and all-encompassing interpretive guide designed for teachers and students approaching Joyce’s writings for the first time, guiding readers to better understand Joyce’s works and the background from which they emerged. Meticulously organized, this text situates readers within the world of Joyce including biographical exploration, discussion of Joyce’s innovations and prominent works such as Dubliners, Ulysses, and Finnegans Wake, surveys of significant critical approaches to Joyce’s writings, and examples of alternative readings and contemporary responses. Each chapter will provide interpretive approaches to contemporary literary theories and key issues, including end-of-chapter strategies and extended readings for further engagement. This book also includes shorter assessments of Joyce’s lesser-known works—critical writings, drama, poetry, letters, epiphanies, and personal recollections—to contextualize the creative and social environments from which his most notable publications arose. This uniquely comprehensive guide to Joyce will be an invaluable and comprehensive resource for readers exploring the influential world of Joyce studies.

Nicholas Fargnoli is Professor of English and Dean Emeritus of Humanities at Molloy University, his professional home for more than four decades. He has published on James Joyce, William Faulkner, and ethics. For twenty years, he served as President of the James Joyce Society. He has received awards for excellence in teaching and scholarship.  

After receiving his PhD from the University of Wisconsin in 1980, Michael Patrick Gillespie taught for twenty-nine years at Marquette University as an Assistant, Associate, and a Full Professor and finally as the inaugural Louise Edna Goeden Professor of English. He has published on the works of James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, William Kennedy, Chaos Theory, Classic Hollywood Cinema, and Irish Film. He has received fellowships or grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Philosophical Society, the Humanities Research Center, the William Andrews Clark Library, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Wisconsin Humanities Council, and Marquette University. He is the only American recipient of the Charles Fanning Medal for Distinguished Work in Irish Studies.