A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

In this thinly fictionalized autobiography, James Joyce traces how his upbringing turned him into a writer. He creates an alter ego named Stephen Dedalus, and dives deep within his psyche through his education and transformation from boy into man. Joyce's novella is one of the greatest of the twentieth century, an examination of religion, Irish identity, and the pursuit of beauty. Honest, moving, and inspirational, the story of Dedalus is required reading for anyone who values the role of the artist in culture.