Bloomsday - The Bostoniad (Paperback)

This tragicomic epic brings to life in America the enduring masterpiece of Homer's "Odyssey" and the Irish saga of Joyce's "Ulysses" in a Father's Day in Boston after the Vietnam War in 1974. This new "Bostoniad" portrays the American immigrant descendants of Leopold and Molly Bloom, and Stephen Dedalus of Dublin. After Tim Finnegan's Irish wake Rudy and Penelope Bloom of Beacon Hill meet Harvard Professor, Dr. Thomas Dedalus. "Bloomsday" narrates in a pixilist style a chorus of New England voices blending to render new verses of the greatest epic of antiquity and the 20th century's most celebrated literary novel on the legendary wandering home of Odysseus after the fall of Troy. "'Bloomsday', an American 'Ulysses, ' is a literary feast, a gem of a novel." - Leonard Seet, Novelist "This is an astonishing book... Lentz has accomplished this feat not only with prodigious erudition, but also with a delicate whimsy and an exquisitely chiseled poetic language. For this is a poetic prose of the first order - lyrical and learned, but brought down to earth by the real particulars of modern life and enlivened by punning, rapid-fire repartee... But here's the crux of the matter: this is a major work by a major writer and sophisticated readers will relish it... A masterpiece." - Terry Richard Bazes, Novelist "This novel is a wow... with a humorous, shrewd, heightened language, like Oscar Wilde on crack. At times the novel reminded me of the best of J. P. Donleavy... I am a little in awe of what Lentz attempted here-and accomplished This is a grand achievement." - Corey Mesler, Novelist "This novel was a delight and I didn't want it to end. 'Ulysses' is a masterpiece, but I enjoyed reading this book much more than 'Ulysses'... A literary masterpiece... Laugh out loud comic moments, moments of touching tenderness and the language is a delight. You must read it." - Paul Raymond Smith, Goodreads "A highly entertaining book that can be enjoyed simply on the merits of Lentz's remarkable command of the language and his ability to turn a phrase." -- Gary Anderson, Author of "Animal Magnet: A Novel" "Lentz's approach to writing is soul driven." - The Weston Forum "This is just such a striking read. I definitely would recommend it." -- Kyrsten Burroughs, Goodreads "Picaresque and picturesque, 'Bloomsday' succeeds... The dialogue is masterful. It will have you smiling." - Times Chronicle "Challenge readers seeking a richer literary experience outside the mainstream, as Joyce did." - The Greenwich Post "I'm sitting in my kitchen transfixed It is hilarious... It's so good, I hate to have it end... Totally delicious." - Agnes Potter "If conditions of life are timeless and universal, those myths that embody them must be, as well... Strains of Joycean music imbue many moments in 'Bloomsday' with beauty and gravitas, inviting us to heed the details of the world and recognize the value and potential in our lives -- to make them mythic... It is to his credit as a novelist that the world Lentz has conjured in 'Bloomsday' is new -- a synthesis of Joyce and American optimism. We hear reverberations of 'Ulysses' but none of its dark pessimism... 'Bloomsday: The Bostoniad' does what fiction should. It transports the reader to another place, where life unfolds exotically enough to entertain us. And while it works on many levels, and will excite Joyce lovers, no prior reading list is required to enjoy 'Bloomsday.' It pays tribute to its forebears but sings in its own voice." - Eric Jay, Novelist "Style as Text" Listopia on Goodreads: "Bloomsday' Ranks 11th "Books with Goodreads Average Rating over 4.5 (Out of 5)" Listopia: 'Bloomsday' Ranks 30th