Shem Is Short For Shemus A Very Short Biography

L' Encrier Hante'

James Joyce

Colors of the Rainbeau

SHEM IS SHORT FOR SHEMUS

-- a very short biography

...every honest to goodness man in the land of the space of today knows that his back life will not stand being written about in black and white.
--from Finnegans Wake, p.169

Somehow it was that he was born under a lucky star.

James Augustus Joyce was born in Ireland February 2, 1882.

He was the eldest of 10 children.

He believed in epiphanies, sudden revelation.

In school Jim was the youngest, least athletic, most homesick.

At age 14 he has his first sexual encounters with prostitutes.

He was offered the chance to become a priest. He declined.

He has an animosity for the drinking, isolation and self-defeating behavior of his father.

He believed his mother was a victim of his father and the Church.

He turned his back on his religion. He was a catholic. Like Lucifer, he said, "I will note serve."

He was furious at Ireland and lived in self-exile and wrote through blinding Irish eyes.

In every story of his there is a character who desires to escape his condition.

He turned his back on his family.

Jim refused to pray for his dying mother.

He threw the manuscript of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man into the fire. His sister rescued it.

He taught languages at the Berlitz School.

He submitted his Dubliners collection of short stories to 23 publishers. 22 turned him down.

He suffered terrible problems with his eyes.

He refused to used quotation marks because he said they were "an eyesore."

He wrote his books in the kitchen. They were all about love.

He wrote Ulysses about the day and Finnegans Wake about the night.

Nora, his love, was the daughter of a drunken baker.

He confessed to, outraged and adored Nora.

Jim was against the idea of marriage.

Jim and Nora had two children: a son, Giorgio, and a daughter, Lucia.

Jim finally married Nora July 4, 1931 in London.

Jim died on January 13, 1941 in Zurich Switzerland. As he wished, he was buried without a religious service.

Nora died in 1951 and was buried apart from Jim. Later they were reburied together in Fluntern Cemetery.

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...every honest to goodness man in the land of the space of today knows that his back life will not stand being written about in black and white. --from *Finnegans Wake*, p.169
Somehow it was that he was born under a lucky star.	James Augustus Joyce was born in Ireland February 2, 1882.	He was the eldest of 10 children.	He believed in epiphanies, sudden revelation.	In school Jim was the youngest, least athletic, most homesick.	At age 14 he has his first sexual encounters with prostitutes.	He was offered the chance to become a priest. He declined.
He has an animosity for the drinking, isolation and self-defeating behavior of his father.	He believed his mother was a victim of his father and the Church.	He turned his back on his religion. He was a catholic. Like Lucifer, he said, "I will note serve."	He was furious at Ireland and lived in self-exile and wrote through blinding Irish eyes.	In every story of his there is a character who desires to escape his condition.	He turned his back on his family.	Jim refused to pray for his dying mother.
*He threw the manuscript of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man* into the fire. His sister rescued it.**	He taught languages at the Berlitz School.	He submitted his Dubliners collection of short stories to 23 publishers. 22 turned him down.	He suffered terrible problems with his eyes.	He refused to used quotation marks because he said they were "an eyesore."	He wrote his books in the kitchen. They were all about love.	He wrote Ulysses about the day and Finnegans Wake about the night.
Nora, his love, was the daughter of a drunken baker.	He confessed to, outraged and adored Nora.	Jim was against the idea of marriage.	Jim and Nora had two children: a son, Giorgio, and a daughter, Lucia.	Jim finally married Nora July 4, 1931 in London.	Jim died on January 13, 1941 in Zurich Switzerland. As he wished, he was buried without a religious service.	Nora died in 1951 and was buried apart from Jim. Later they were reburied together in Fluntern Cemetery.