Bloomsday

Thanks to John Cutrone and his Book of Days post for the reminder that today is Bloomsday. Here's how John begins his post:

English majors, rejoice! Or, re-Joyce… for it is Bloomsday, the annual celebration of the James Joyce novel Ulysses, a large book whose narrative covers but one day: June 16, 1904, in Dublin, Ireland. Each 16th of June, folks all over the world (but especially in Dublin) follow the footsteps of Leopold Bloom, the main character in Ulysses. Bloomsday has become a journey and a literary celebration (and some cause for drinking, but this is nothing new amongst bookish types).

I couldn't resist writing out the word even though I've never read Ulysses and don't think much of Joyce as a person after reading Sylvia Beach and the Lost Generation, a biography by Noel Riley Fitch of the publisher of Ulysses. What an amazing woman and what a selfish ass. The book would not be the groundbreaking one it was without her patience and determination. And don't get me started about Margaret Fuller and Emerson and The Dial magazine.