James Joyce publishes his modernist masterpiece, “Ulysses”

When James Joyce authored Ulysses, he intended it to be regarded as much for its artistic structure as for the text. He certainly could not predict the obscenity trials that followed his publication. The only thing Joyce likely concentrated on was the stream-of-consciousness prose his novel became known for, and on drawing the parallels between his story and Homer’s ancient epic The Odyssey.

On this day, February 2nd, in 1922, after two years of serialization in the American journal The Little Review, Joyce’s novel came out in book form. Almost immediately it caused a sensation.

As individuals often have thoughts they dare not reveal to others, Joyce’s story included some rather racy chapters, which earned him a ban on publication within the United States and Great Britain before Ulysses was ever released in book form. In the United States, a court case deemed the book illegal, which was enough to prevent its release (and seize translated French copies attempted smuggled into the U.S.) until the decision was overturned in 1933.