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The Guide to James Joyce's Ulysses Paperback – February 1, 2022

by Patrick Hastings (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 212 ratings
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From the creator of UlyssesGuide.com, this essential guide to James Joyce's masterpiece weaves together plot summaries, interpretive analyses, scholarly perspectives, and historical and biographical context to create an easy-to-read, entertaining, and thorough review of Ulysses.

In The Guide to James Joyce's 'Ulysses,' Patrick Hastings provides comprehensive support to readers of Joyce's magnum opus by illuminating crucial details and reveling in the mischievous genius of this unparalleled novel. Written in a voice that offers encouragement and good humor, this guidebook maintains a closeness to the original text and supports the first-time reader of Ulysses with the information needed to successfully finish and appreciate the novel. Deftly weaving together spirited plot summaries, helpful interpretive analyses, scholarly criticism, and explanations of historical and biographical context, Hastings makes Joyce's famously intimidating novel―one that challenges the conventions and limits of language―more accessible and enjoyable than ever before. He unpacks each chapter of Ulysses with episode guides, which offer pointed and readable explanations of what occurs in the text. He also deals adroitly with many of the puzzles Joyce hoped would "keep the professors busy for centuries."

Full of practical resources―including maps, explanations of the old British system of money, photos of places and things mentioned in the text, annotated bibliographies, and a detailed chronology of Bloomsday (June 16, 1904―the single day on which Ulysses is set)―this is an invaluable first resource about a work of art that celebrates the strength of spirit required to endure the trials of everyday existence. The Guide to James Joyce's 'Ulysses' is perfect for anyone undertaking a reading of Joyce's novel, whether as a student, a member of a reading group, or a lover of literature finally crossing this novel off the bucket list.

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  1. Print length
    328 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Johns Hopkins University Press
  4. Publication date
    February 1, 2022
  5. Reading age
    18 years and up
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 0.78 x 9 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    142144349X
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1421443492
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

An admirably written, thoroughly researched, and eminently usable guidebook to Joyce's gargantuan masterwork. Its audience will be wide, varied, and (best of all) grateful for the book's witty clarity. I would assign it to my undergraduates and recommend it to friends and colleagues in other fields.
―Anthony Cuda, University of North Carolina Greensboro, author of The Passions of Modernism: Eliot, Yeats, Woolf, and Mann

Clear, witty, and crisply written, Patrick Hastings's guide to Ulysses provides first-time readers with many essential tools for appreciating Joyce's masterpiece. I strongly recommend this book for undergraduate classrooms and for lay readers seeking a reliable navigator for their journey through the greatest novel in the English language.
―Mark Osteen, Loyola University Maryland, author of The Economy of Ulysses: Making Both Ends Meet

The Guide to James Joyce's 'Ulysses' is indispensable for first-time readers and veteran Joyceans alike: chapter overviews orient us, cultural backgrounds immerse us in Joyce's world, and incisive analysis shows us just how deep our readings can go. Like the wisest of guides, Patrick Hastings turns from answers to questions and from essential scholarship to the masterpiece's great mysteries.
―Kevin Birmingham, author of The Most Dangerous Book: The Battle for James Joyce's Ulysses

That first-time experience of reading Ulysses is one that endures for artists, teachers, and Joyceheads all their lives. Those mingled feelings of bafflement, discovery, joy in the language, and cautiousness about one's own understanding of things have created a worldwide community of devotees. Hastings's work welcomes everyone into that community.
―Robert Berry, creator of Ulysses "Seen"

With chapter-by-chapter summaries, commentary, maps, and a host of images, The Guide to James Joyce's 'Ulysses' provides everything it says on the tin―and so much more. Patrick Hastings's affection for Joyce and Joyce's Dublin emerge from every page of this wonderfully inviting, clear, and concise little guide. Like a friend by your elbow, Hastings's book will ease the first-time reader's anxieties while gently guiding them along the paths of Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus―paths that will enrich your life as surely as they have the lives of readers for a hundred years.
―Joseph Nugent, Boston College, cocreator of Digital Dubliners

Written with warmth, affection, clarity and insight, [The Guide to James Joyce's "Ulysses"] is full of observations and witty asides that remind readers that Ulysses – whatever else it may be – is a comic novel. Hastings's book is thoroughly useable, and many first-time Joyceans will find it indispensable as they embark on the lifelong adventure that is reading Ulysses.
―Times Literary Supplement

Thoroughly reliable.
―Terrence Killeen, James Joyce Quarterly

Hastings manages to steer his readers between the Scylla of ignorance and the Charybdis of erudition...
―Robert Nicholson, James Joyce Broadsheet

Review

With chapter-by-chapter summaries, commentary, maps, and a host of images, The Guide to James Joyce's 'Ulysses' provides everything it says on the tin―and so much more. Patrick Hastings's affection for Joyce and Joyce's Dublin emerge from every page of this wonderfully inviting, clear, and concise little guide. Like a friend by your elbow, Hastings's book will ease the first-time reader's anxieties while gently guiding them along the paths of Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus―paths that will enrich your life as surely as they have the lives of readers for a hundred years.

-- Joseph Nugent

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Johns Hopkins University Press (February 1, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 328 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 142144349X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1421443492
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.78 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 212 ratings

About the author

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Patrick Hastings

Patrick Hastings

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Patrick Hastings is the English Department Chair at Gilman School in Baltimore, Maryland, where he teaches sophomores and seniors and coaches the JV soccer team. He began creating UlyssesGuide.com in the summer of 2016, and that project evolved into The Guide to James Joyce's Ulysses. His interest in Joyce began during the summer of 2003, when he lived and worked at Shakespeare & Company Bookstore in Paris. He has been published in James Joyce Quarterly and has presented at conferences on topics ranging from classroom use of digital humanities to hip hop and postmodernism. He grew up in Atlanta, Georgia.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
212 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book clear, informative, and helpful for reading challenging works of literature. They also describe it as entertaining and interesting. Readers say it unlocks many puzzles.

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ClarityEntertainment value
12 customers mention "Clarity"12 positive0 negative

Customers find the book clear, with great explanations and understandings of where readers would leave off or have questions. They say it's the best guide for the common reader, providing plenty of detail and context to help understand the novel. Readers also mention the book is thorough without sounding like a doctoral dissertation.

"...the novel again (probably no from this reader), and the precise explanations if the text, high, high marks!!" Read more

"...Where this guide differs is that it speaks plainly but intelligently about what is actually happening in the text...." Read more

"...A clear concise guide with just enough analysis . This is just perfect for those reading the exemplary novel for the first time." Read more

"...They give plenty of detail and context to help you understand the novel, and the most important references and allusions are explained in a very..." Read more

3 customers mention "Entertainment value"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book entertaining, interesting, and perfect for those reading the exemplary novel for the first time. They say the guide unlocks many of the puzzles.

"...This is just perfect for those reading the exemplary novel for the first time." Read more

"...Hastings’ guide unlocks a lot of the puzzles. And it’s entertaining. Joyce Heads, you need this." Read more

"I love this new book. Very interesting. Fine job." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

McGrawfan12
5.0 out of 5 stars Best Explanation For First-Time Readers of Ulysses
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2024
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This explanation of Ulysses is fantastic for first-time readers. Great explanations and understandings of where readers would leave off or have questions/concerns. I appreciated the perspective of hope if you want to read the novel again (probably no from this reader), and the precise explanations if the text, high, high marks!!
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zlowe
5.0 out of 5 stars The best guide for the common reader
Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2022
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While studying Ulysses for my masters, I surrounded myself with books on Ulysses, among them an assortment of supposed "guides" to this wonderful, strange novel. While I'm happy to have all of the books I collected on Joyce, the writings on Mr. Hasting's website, lovingly collected here, were the only texts I encountered that did not send me looking for a guide to the guide. There are other notable works on Ulysses that have taken sheer guidance as a goal, but you will find that many of them are bloated and pretentious, often steering the reader towards a specific interpretation of the text, and many of them more engaged in the writer's own thinking than they are committed to opening the complexities of the text for the common reader. Where this guide differs is that it speaks plainly but intelligently about what is actually happening in the text. It will nod you on towards relevant criticism without sending you into the mire; it will walk you gently through some very complicated passages, but it will never do so in condescension. In fact, the tone is always one of collaboration - pausing to ask questions, acknowledging and admiring the complexity together with the reader. It is clearly a work of love and scholarship. No matter your literary ambitions, or familiarity with Joyce, this book should be the first stop if you wish to read a text in parallel to Ulysses.
66 people found this helpful
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Phillydad87
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Summary
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2023
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This book was exactly what I needed for reading Ulysses the first time. A clear concise guide with just enough analysis . This is just perfect for those reading the exemplary novel for the first time.
3 people found this helpful
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Ronald M. Riggs
4.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for anyone contemplating the challenge of Ulysses
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2024
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I've attempted the reading of Ulysses twice and never until reading Mr Hastings' explanations and interpretations have I come even close to understanding what a monumental book this was.
3 people found this helpful
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Thomas J.
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource
Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2024
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By all means, read Ulysses. But have this book next to you while doing so. Its text alone is worth the cost, but the lists of Further Reading at the end of each episode are like the most valuable lagniappe you ever got.
6 people found this helpful
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D. Dubnicki
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide for the first-time Ulysses reader
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2022
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I’m reading “Ulysses” for the first time and have found this guide very helpful. It is aimed at the first-time reader, which is very helpful, since some of the other guides I have are much more detailed and overwhelming for people who are reading “Ulysses” for pleasure as opposed to a college course.

The episode summaries are succinct, but not too short. They give plenty of detail and context to help you understand the novel, and the most important references and allusions are explained in a very understandable manner.

I usually turn to this guide either as I’m reading an episode or after I finish. This helps me make sense of what I’ve read and ensures I didn’t miss any critical ideas that Joyce wanted to communicate.

Final verdict: I can’t recommend this book enough for the modern casual reader of “Ulysses.” It breaks down each episode into plain English. It is thorough without sounding like a doctoral dissertation. This guide will definitely enhance your experience of reading “Ulysses” for the first time!
19 people found this helpful
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Jack B. Siegel
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential
Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2024
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You are entitled to your opinion, but for me Ulysses was the worst book I ever read. I read it in a 10-week course. Hastings was the only way I could get through it. Essential, whether you love or hate Ulysses.
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Robin G.
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential for understanding Ulysses
Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2024
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I don't think I'd be able to get thru Ulysses with out frustration if I hadn't had this book by my side. It really helped me to understand Ulysses.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Ricardo Hekimian
5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT FOR FIRST TIME ULYSSES READERS
Reviewed in Mexico on September 18, 2024
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Great chapter by chapter analysis of Ulysses by one of the most important Joyce scholars!
Highly recommended and a treat for Joyce’s admirers
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Leonardo Bargas Delfim
5.0 out of 5 stars Ajuda bastante.
Reviewed in Brazil on July 22, 2024
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Ótimo livro, ajuda no entendimento de várias passagens em todos os capítulos. Linguagem divertida e despojada.
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mark link
5.0 out of 5 stars good guide to plot
Reviewed in Canada on February 25, 2022
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Clear concise plot outline
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truus ter Braak
5.0 out of 5 stars Goede gids
Reviewed in Germany on December 12, 2022
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Uitstekende gids om Ulysses dieper te doorgronden
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caron
5.0 out of 5 stars Passionnant et essentiel
Reviewed in France on July 13, 2022
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Une étude passionnante, très claire et souvent drôle. Indispensable pour bien comprendre « Ulysse »
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