This may be the first literary biography I read. ( )

Previous training and hubris allowed me to waltz into the Joycean buzzsaw completely blind. That summer of 1994 I was recovering from knee surgery, catching a bad relationship in the solar plexus and discovering the World Cup. This tome was such a wellspring of delight during the hot, heady, and hobbled days of that summer. ( )

Full disclosure, I skipped most of the coprophilia and iritis parts. ( )

Well-rounded and meticulously researched biography of a literary giant and wonderfully ordinary man. Not without its mistakes, apparently, but an indispensable read for anyone who loves Joyce's work. ( )

An essential work, but much overrated. Ellmann is not entirely reliable on important points, due to a curiously persistent obtuseness toward and misunderstanding of Joyce's sense of his own mission. ( )