Portrait of the artist as a young man

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is James Joyce's first novel. With strong autobiographical overtones, the book tells the story of Stephen Dedalus and his artistic and intellectual development. Determined to become a poet, the young man must first overcome the forces that stifle his imagination: the conventions of the Catholic Church, school, and Irish society. First published in 1916, the work already exhibited hallmarks of Joyce's inventive style, such as the use of interior monologue and a keen concern for the psyche, which established him as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.