The Irishman James Joyce (1882–1941) is rightfully considered one of the greatest masters of literature of the 20th century. His novels “Ulysses” and “Finnegans Wake” bizarrely transformed the surrounding reality, causing polar assessments - from enthusiastic praise to accusations of absurdity and obscenity. Avoiding the attention of the public and the press, he surrounded his life and work with a veil of secrecy, asking researchers many riddles. The author of the first Russian biography of Joyce, writer and literary critic Alan Kubatiev, is trying to unravel them. In his fascinating narrative, the reader walks step by step with the hero from childhood in his beloved and hated Dublin to death in war-torn Europe, from the comedies and dramas of Joyce's wandering life - to the complex meanings and allusions hidden in his works.