Jeri Johnson`s edition of Ulysses is acknowledged by reviewers, Anthony Burgess among them, as the best available
The intro is the most wide-ranging, comprehensive, and accessible intro to the novel of any edition, demystifying its `difficulties`
The notes are the fullest of any edition and provide a background to Irish history, the intricacies of Catholic ritual, Irish slang, literary allusions and much else
Inc. full composition and publishing history and list of selected variants.

`Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo `

So begins one of the most significant literary works of the twentieth century, and one of the most innovative. Its originality shocked contemporary readers on its publication in 1916 who found its treating of the minutiae of daily life indecorous, and its central character unappealing. Was it art or was it filth?

The novel charts the intellectual, moral, and sexual development of Stephen Dedalus, from his childhood listening to his father`s stories through his schooldays and adolescence to the brink of adulthood and independence, and his awakening as an artist. Growing up in a Catholic family in Dublin in the final years of the nineteenth century, Stephen`s consciousness is forged by Irish history and politics, by Catholicism and culture, language and art. Stephen`s story mirrors that of Joyce himself, and the novel is both startlingly realistic and brilliantly crafted.

For this edition Jeri Johnson, editor of the acclaimed Ulysses 1922 text, has written an introduction and notes which together provide a comprehensive and illuminating appreciation of Joyce`s artistry.