`My book, Writing in the Twentieth Century: A Reader, bears the scars of its birth. Now that it is in the world it will have a chance to breathe and make its way in the academy or market place. It would be nice to know, though probably impossible to ascertain, if sales increase dramatically on account of the excision rather than the inclusion of James Joyce."
Editor David Pierce was speaking from his home in England before the arrival of the great tome in the bookshops today. He has been pondering the project for the past 30 years, and despite the well publicised hiccup with the Joyce Estate, the Cork University Press, (CUP) with great sighs of relief, has been able finally to deliver the volume, running to almost 1,400 pages.
For reasons best known to Joyce's grandson Stephen, Pierce and the CUP were not allowed to use excerpts from Ulysses and Joyce's short story The Dead, although students and Joyce fans all over the world will have no difficulty getting their hands on either.
If there is no such thing as bad publicity, then the print run of 10,000 copies will be snapped up in double quick time and Mr Pierce and the CUP will be vindicated in bringing this mammoth undertaking to fruition.
The spotlight has been on the Joyce row and, while the forced exclusion is regrettable, nothing can take away from the vision and sheer scope of the work.
Almost everything you can think of is here, from Douglas Hyde to O'Casey and Yeats, Greg Delanty and Paul Durcan, and all that comes between.
It will be well thumbed by students, scholars and thousands of others besides. No doubt, it will go to a second printing. Mr Joyce should be sent a complimentary copy.