That Other Biography

I’m putting on a book sale/benefit this
weekend and have been working on it
all week. One of the books donated is
Herbert Gorman’s James Joyce, which
I already own but have not yet read. I’ve
heard varying opinions on it. Here’s one
from Staley’s Annotated Critical Biography
of James Joyce:

“Although Gorman’s work is not to be
discounted, it remains a biography
written by one loyal to the subject and
dependent upon him for access to
nearly all material...... Gorman had
both the advantages and disadvan-
tages of a close relationship with
Joyce and his book clearly reveals this..
... Gorman’s relationship with Joyce on
occasion was a detriment, for Joyce
actively interfered and at least once
exercised a veto over material to be
included.”

Happy October! I have great news. Great for me,
that is. I have been invited to speak at the
International James Joyce Symposium, aka
Bloomsday 100, next June. My topic of
presentation: New York State of Mind: James
Joyce and the Music of Tin Pan Alley.

I'm thrilled, thrilled I tell you.

Joyce’s Contributions to Physics

James Joyce is responsible for the quark.

Sort of. Actually, Murray Gell-Mann had a lot
to do with it too. Gell-Mann, an American
physicist, was born in 1929. He won the
Nobel Prize in 1969 for his study of sub-
atomic particles. He, along with his associate
George Zweig, was responsible for the quark
theory which hypothesized that quarks are
the smallest particles of matter (quarks
being particles that carry fractional internal
linkelectric charges. Or to be more precise:

“quark (kwôrk, kwärk) noun
Any of a group of hypothetical elementary
particles having electric charges of magnitude
one-third or two-thirds that of the electron,
regarded as constituents of all hadrons.”

Gell-Mann named the quark after a passage in
Finnegans Wake: “Three quarks for Master Mark,
Sure he hasn’t got much of a bark, And sure any
he has it’s beside the mark.”

Gell-Mann wrote of this in a private letter of June
27, 1978, to the editor of the Oxford English
Dictionary, which said that he had actually been
influenced by Joyce's word in naming the particle.

Literary Saloon mentions Tom Stoppard's play
The Coast of Utopia today. They have a nice little
info page on him here.

Stoppard wrote the play Travesties after
he discovered the interesting fact that Lenin,
James Joyce and Tzara all lived in Zurich at
the same time.

I'm not sure where, why, or by whom
but Pirate Day was celebrated a week
or so ago. Someone brought James
Joyce into the festivities as seen here.

Age of Aquarius

I came across James Joyce's Natal Chart
on the internet. They use 6 am as the
time of birth, which is what astrologers
do if they don't have the birthtime. It
supposedly makes the chart less accurate
(ahem). I've looked in several sources and
can't find anything about what time of day
Joyce was born. If any of you know I'd
appreciate your emailing me. Here's a
breakdown of his planets:

Sun in Aquarius
Moon in Leo
Mars in Gemini
Venus in Aquarius
Mercury in Pisces
Jupiter in Taurus
Uranus in Virgo
Saturn in Taurus
Neptune in Taurus

I don't know a lot about astrology
but I believe Aquarius is known as
innovative and Taurus is stubborn.
Pisces is emotional & intuitive. Hmm.
There is a guy at the radio station
who is an astrologer. His show is right
before mine on Wednesdays. I'm going
to show this to him and see what he
thinks. Without telling him that it's
James Joyce. I'll let you know what he
says...

Crush

Something occurred to me as I carried clean
laundry into my daughter's room today. She
has a poster of Nsync on her wall. Silly young
girl. Then I carried the rest of the laundry to
my room and noticed the poster of James
Joyce on my wall. I have a crush on a dead
man.

It's a poster from one of our Bloomsday
events. It has that photo on it where Joyce
is sitting in a field or meadow, patch on his
eye, disconsolate.

Mrs. Svevo

As relayed in yesterday's post, Joyce helped Svevo
gain fame. He did the same for Svevo's wife, or at
least, for her hair. Joyce wrote to Svevo on Feb.
20, 1924 that he was making use of Signore Livia
Schmitz's name and hair for his newest heroine:
Anna Livia Purabelle. Joyce later was quoted :

"They say I have immortalized Svevo but I've also
immortalized the tresses of Signora Svevo. They
were long and reddish blond.... There is a river in
Dublin which passes dye-houses and its waters are
reddish, so I've enjoyed comparing these two things
in the book I'm writing...'

Below is the happy couple on their wedding day.

Svevo

Italo Svevo aka Ettore Schmidt, met James Joyce
in 1907, when he decided he needed English lessons.
The two men became friends and Svevo helped pull
Joyce out of a serious writing slump in 1909. Years
later, Joyce was equally helpful to Svevo, reading
the two novels he had written which had gone unno-
ticed by the public. Joyce read Svevo's novels,
admired them and helped to get Confessions of Zeno
published. Svevo wasn’t able to enjoy his delayed
success for long.

From Joyce’s letter to Harriet Weaver on September
20, 1928:

“ I have also bad news. Poor Italo Svevo was killed on
Thursday last in a motor accident. I have no details
yet only a line from his brother ... Somehow in the
case of Jews I always suspect suicide though
there was no reason in his case especially since
he came into fame...”

You can find a review of another Svevo title,
A Perfect Hoax, here.

A Long Day

Kids to school. radio show. home for lunch. type
up BOD letter. work the rest of the day. Stop in
at the pub. Home to cook dinner. sink into chair
achingly. Too tired to write a creative blog entry
much less work on the book I'm trying to finish by
Dec 1st. How did Joyce do it? hmmmm..... Nora

Louisiananananaians may be interested
in this:

Art exhibition on display at McNeese

"An art exhibition of works based on James Joyce's
'Finnegans Wake,' by Heather Ryan Kelley, McNeese
State University professor of art, will open Oct. 2
with a public reception from 7:30-9 p.m. in the
Abercrombie Gallery in the McNeese Shearman Fine
Arts Center.

The exhibit, "This Is the Way to the Museyroom," will
be on display through Oct. 24. The Abercrombie
Gallery is a non-profit gallery sponsored by the
McNeese Friends of the Visual Arts, a community
support group, and is open from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday
through Friday. For more information, call the McNeese
Department of Visual Arts at 475-5060.

Girls Lean Back Everywhere

The book I ordered finally arrived today. “Girls
Lean Back Everywhere: The Law of Obscenity
and the Assault on Genius” by Edward de Grazia.
The title refers to a line from the case against Jane
Heap and Margaret Anderson, two American
publishers who were prosecuted in 1920 for
printing the Nausicaa Chapter (Gerty) in their
publication The Little Review.

“ Mr. Joyce was not teaching early Egyptian
perversions nor inventing new ones. Girls lean
back everywhere, showing lace and silk
stockings; wear low-cut sleeveless blouses,
breathless bathing suits; men think thoughts
and have emotions about these things every
where - seldom as delicately and imaginatively
as Mr. Bloom - and no one is corrupted.”
.............Jane Heap

The Honorable Woolsey

In honor of Banned Book Week, here are a few
excerpts from Judge Woolsey’s landmark
decision, written on December 6, 1933:

“...The motion for a decree dismissing the libel
herein is granted, and, consequently, of course,
the Government's motion for a decree of
forfeiture and destruction is denied......

... But in "Ulysses", in spite of its unusual
frankness, I do not detect anywhere the leer of
the sensualist. I hold, therefore, that it is not
pornographic.....

.... The words which are criticized as dirty are
old Saxon words known to almost all men and,
I venture, to many women, and are such words
as would be naturally and habitually used... In
respect of the recurrent emergence of the theme
of sex in the minds of his characters, it must
always be remembered that his locale was Celtic
and his season Spring....

.... I am quite aware that owing to some of its
scenes "Ulysses" is a rather strong draught to
ask some sensitive, though normal, persons to
take. But my considered opinion, after long
reflection, is that whilst in many places the effect
of "Ulysses" on the reader undoubtedly is some-
what emetic, nowhere does it tend to be an
aphrodisiac. "Ulysses" may, therefore, be
admitted into the United States.

JOHN M. WOOLSEY
United States District Judge”

Happy Banned Books Week! This week runs
through September 27th. So kiss your copy
of Ulysses. Buy a banned book for someone
you love. Or hey, buy a challenged book
instead. There’s plenty of them out there.

First, here’s a definition of Challenged from
the American Library Association:

“A challenge is an attempt to remove
or restrict materials, based upon the
objections of a person or group. A
banning is the removal of those materials.
Challenges do not simply involve a person
expressing a point of view; rather, they are
an attempt to remove material from the
curriculum or library, thereby restricting
the access of others.”

Let’s see now there’s I Know Why the
Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
(Too sexually explicit; doesn't represent
traditional values.)

Or how about Moby Dick by Herman Melville
(Conflicts with values of the community.)

Or that nasty little number Little House in the
Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
(Racially offensive.)

And that’s just the tip if the iceberg. Here’s a
few highlights from the list of the Most
Challenged Books from 1990 - 2000:

6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean George
40. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for
Girls: A Growing-Up Guide by Lynda Madaras
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by
Judy Blume
88. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

Yeah, that Judy Blume makes James Joyce look pretty
tame.

Florida Dreaming

Here's a good reason to go to Florida:
The University of Miami has a collection
of sheet music containing songs from
James Joyce's works and from his personal
repertoire. A brilliant idea. You can find
this gem of a collection (large, but not
complete) in the Otto G. Richter Library,
Archives and Special Collections Department,
or go here.

Tweedy

In 1909, Joyce had another money-making idea
that didn't pan out. He wanted to import Irish
Tweed to Trieste. Dublin Woolen Mills was
all for the idea and hired Joyce as their sales
rep to Trieste but I don't believe anything tweed
ever actually changed hands.

That doesn't stop the DW Mills from bragging
about their past employee :

“The shop is now run by George, Bernard and
Valerie Roche, the greatgrandchildren of
Valentine James Roche who opened the store
on Bachelor's Walk in 1888. The Woollen Mills
has a number of interesting connections with
notable Irishmen and women, having employed
James Joyce and the Trieste representative
and the founder having held meetings with
Michael Davitt and Maude Gonne in the rooms
above the shop.”

A Juicy Tidbit

In researching the dissenting opinion in the trial
against Ulysses in 1933 - U.S. v One Book Called
Ulysses by James Joyce, 72 F2d 705 (CA 2, 1934) -
I found out something fascinating about Judge
Martin Manton, who wrote the dissenting opinion
in the case.

Judge Woolsey’s opinion is one of the most famous
legal decisions ever written. It deserves, and will
receive, a later post of its own. But the case was
not won with out opposition, most strongly from
Judge Martin Manton and Judge Learned Hand (wow)
who stated that “fundamental values should be
expressed in a work of art and that one should not
be diverted for the obscenity of the book”. They were
seen as taking the “Pro-Morality View”.

Judge Manton, took this stance not because he
believed in it, but to disguise his own immoral
activities.

Judge Manton was convicted a few years after the
Ulysses trial, of conspiracy to obstruct justice.
He took over $186,000 in bribes in 28 separate
“distinct and overt acts.”(United States v Federal
Appeals Judge Martin T. Manton, 107 F2d 834
(CA 2, 1939) cert den 309 US 664; 60 S Ct 590;
84 L Ed 1012 (1940) )

Coming out against Ulysses was part of his cover, an
attempt to make himself look good and moral. He
was sentenced to two years in jail and a 10,000 fine.
And to whatever appropriate punishment Karmic Law
can come up with for someone who insincerely
denigrates a man and his book for his own personal
gain. What a skank.

Tomorrow: A Day Away

I'm doing some research on the famous Woolsey
decision. Haven't finished so nothing big to report
today, but here's one thing I didn't know. The
decision was 5 to 4. Close call. I'm trying to dig up
the dissenting opinion. Hope to have more on this
tomorrow.

Also, I purchased a tape on eBay of a reading by
James Joyce. I've never heard his voice before.
I hope that comes tomorrow too.

Joyce as Troubadour

I’ve been struggling to come up with ways to make
enough money via some side project so that I can
quit my job and just work on my writing. I find
myself thinking a lot about James Joyce’s struggles
to survive. We’re both good at coming up with ideas,
but not so good at the follow through or making our
ideas pay.

One of his early ideas was to be a traveling minstrel,
sort of a 20th century O’Carolan. Here’s how he
explained it in a letter to Gogarty written June 3rd,
1904:

“My idea for July and August is this - to get
Dolmetsch to make me a lute and to coast the
south of England from Falmouth to Margate,
singing old English songs”

And he told Padraic Colum that the tour would be
“personally conducted, like the Emperor Nero’s
tour in Greece.”

The plan didn’t work out. Dolmetsch, who had
made a similar instrument for Yeats, was hesitant
to make another one. He told Joyce that making a
lute would be highly expensive and “I could hardly
say when it would be finished. The lute is moreover
extremely difficult to play and very troublesome to
keep in order.” He recommended Joyce use a spinet
or harpsichord. Joyce gave up on the idea instead.

Copyright fans will like this article wherein University
of Tulsa English professor Robert Spoo asserts that
Ulysses lacks copyright in the US and falls under
Public Domain.

“The argument by the Joyce estate and Random
House for 1934 as the commencement of a
Ulysses copyright in the United States has no
basis in law, Spoo says. He explains that U.S.
copyright law in force in 1922 required foreign-
produced works in English to satisfy stringent
provisions ?which unabashedly protected our
domestic printers and book manufacturers.
Under that law, Joyce would have had to deposit
a copy of the book at the copyright office within
two months of publication in France, and then,
within another four months, have the book printed
on American soil by a U.S. printer. Spoo says
Joyce did not meet these requirements, thus
relinquishing his novel to the public domain.”

Spoo’s article was published in the Yale Law
Journal, Vol. 108, No. 3. You can receive a copy of
the article by emailing robert.spoo@yale.edu.

Kickin' It with Joyce One Afternoon

If , by some universal tip o' the hat, I was
able to spend an afternoon with James Joyce
the first thing I would do is remind myself to
avoid the phrase "kickin' it".

Then I'd like to spend some time with him
sitting around the living room, listening to
cds.

I'd play some oldies (Gloomy Winter or
Brackagh Hill) and say, "Now this seems
like your kind of song. I'm surprised you
didn't use this in the Sirens episode".

And I'd play some new songs that I think he'd
like. And maybe I could get him to sing Ye
Banks and Braes for me. And then he'd ask
me to sing something. Gosh, what would
I choose.

Wouldn't that be a lovely afternoon...