THE MOST DANGEROUS BOOK. JAMES JOYCE AND THE BATTLE FOR ULYSSES, KEVIN BIRMINGHAM

The book that many now consider the greatest novel in the English language was banned for obscenity for more than a decade in most of the English-speaking world. Government authorities on both sides of the Atlantic confiscated and burned more than a thousand copies of Ulysses because the sale, distribution, promotion, and importation of the novel had been declared illegal in both Great Britain and the United States. A portion of it was burned in Paris while still in draft form, and it was condemned in New York as “obscene, indecent, and lascivious” while it was still being serialized in the magazine The Little Review. The Sunday Express He described it as "the most infamously obscene book in the history of literature, both ancient and modern." The Dublin Review He warned Joyce's countrymen that reading Ulysses It was a sin against the Holy Spirit, the only sin God cannot forgive. Over the course of a decade, Ulysses It eventually became an underground sensation. It was literary contraband, a novel you could only read if you found a counterfeit copy printed by pirate publishers or if you managed to outwit customs agents and smuggle one of the copies printed in Paris into the country. Joyce, with the support of several of the most important publishers and writers of his time, had to fight for years to obtain the right to publish his novel in England and the United States.

The most dangerous book It tells the extraordinary story of Ulysses, from Joyce's first notes in 1904 to his pivotal federal obscenity trial in 1933. Kevin Birmingham's monumental research brings to light new information about Joyce's life and the circumstances surrounding the creation and reception of his most famous book. Written for both seasoned Joyce enthusiasts and newcomers eager to unravel the secrets of one of the 20th century's most important works, it tells the gripping story of how Joyce's novel was conceived, written, published, burned, acclaimed, persecuted, tried, and vilified before finally taking its place as one of the great masterpieces of world literature.

"Perhaps the best story contained in The most dangerous book This marks the arrival of an important new young non-fiction author. Kevin Birmingham presents himself fully formed in this, his first book. The historian and the writer within him are in perfect harmony, approaching his subject with authority and elegance, an instinct for detail and quotation, and a good dose of wit. A perfectly measured work, but no less daring for it.
—Dwight Gardner, The New York Times

"Thanks to its energetic combination of social history, legal intrigue, literary criticism and collective biography (of patrons, editors, censors and an incomparable author) it will mark a milestone among Joyce studies for many, many years."
—Kenneth Baker, The San Francisco Chronicle

"It narrates the events with a wealth of detail and a dramatic pulse unexpected in a literary essay, making us almost feel nostalgic for the bad old days when a book could still be dangerous."
—James S. Murphy, Vanity Fair

"A deeply entertaining piece of investigative journalism that rescues..." Ulysses of superlatives and academic battles that tarnish his rebelliousness and his humanity."
—John Lingan, Slate

• Hardcover with dust jacket
• 496 pp. 16.5 x 24 cm.
• ISBN: 978-84-944587-3-6