Bloomsday

When the great lamented Irish man of letters, James Joyce, wrote the novel, ULYSSES, he chronicled the wanderings of one Leopold Bloom as he made his way around Dublin on June 16, 1904.

The annual marking of this day by Joyce aficionados throughout the world provides the perfect opportunity for would-be intellectual types to gain credibility by dropping a casual allusion to the day into conversations. This is almost foolproof, as in spite of the book's historical importance in the field of literature, it remains, we suspect, one of the best known, but most unread books in history.

So if you do decide to slip an allusion to Bloomsday into your daily patter, there is a good chance that others will not have read the book. They might, however, know who James Joyce was and this would give your tender ego a small boost. To be safe, you could actually read the book, or at least the Cliff notes. Then, at least, you might glean a few tidbits, such as our favorite: The word, "yes", as featured in Molly Bloom's Soliloquy.

Have a good Bloomsday!