“Mr. Bloom stooped and turned over a piece of paper on the strand. He brought it near his eyes and peered. Letter? No. Can’t read…Page of an old copybook.”

On June, 16, 1904, Leopold Bloom stepped out of his house on 7 Eccles St. into the most iconic day in literary history. Today marks the 107th anniversary of Bloomsday, a celebration of James Joyce’s Ulysses and its protagonist’s journey through Dublin. Hundreds of thousands of people will convene the world over to engage in 24 hours of Joycean revelry. But why? What’s the point of celebrating a book most people are afraid to read and that the author himself stated would keep professors busy for a century? (more…)