“Every life is in many days, day after day. We walk through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants, old men, young men, wives, widows, brothers-in-love, but always meeting ourselves.” James Joyce
Somewhere, in the great library in the sky, a celestial bookstore, or floating over the streets of Dublin, James Joyce is having a heady time of it. Not just because of Bloomsday, the recent June 16th global celebration of his legendary novel, Ulysses, but because there’s a new novel out called The Last Words of James Joyce by James Broderick.
I was lucky enough to attend its book launch at my beloved community bookstore, Watchung Booksellers. What a joy to be sitting once again in a real bookstore among real book lovers listening to a real-live author! Here’s a simple recipe for a delightful evening:
An enthusiastic writer: James Broderick loves to write, he loves talking about books, and he loves teaching literature. And he especially loves the works of James Joyce, which he once heard described as a mountain you can tunnel through, get lost in, but never really climb. And like all novelists, he loves sharing fascinating untold stories.
An intriguing plot premise: No spoiler alert here! I’ve just begun The Last Words of James Joyce and look forward to really diving into it. Part mystery, part thriller, the novel has a wild assortment of characters connected by a frantic “treasure hunt” for a lost Joyce manuscript. Center stage is Lucia Joyce, James Joyce’s brilliant daughter, whose troubled, tragic story Broderick wanted to tell.
An appreciative audience: With a lively conversation between Broderick and fellow writer Bruce Benway, setting the stage, a lively Q&A followed. Someone asked what book would be the best portal into Joyce’s world—The Dubliners was the clear winner.
An enthusiastic author! A tantalizing new book! A bookstore! Devoted readers! What more do we need? Bravo, James Broderick.—write on!
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