Brandabur, Edward
A Scrupulous Meanness: A Study of Joyce's Early Works.
University of Illinois Press, 1971. First edition with inscription signed and dated (6/9/1986) by the author. 184 pages.
Volume is bound in brown cloth, with bright stamped gilt lettering to spine and front cover. Book is in excellent condition. Dust jacket displays moderate shelfwear.
"Joyce felt there was "something gone wrong" in Ireland; there was a paralysis at its center. Dubliners in particular were unconscious and eager victims of "sadomasochistic neurosis," tending to live according to vicarious experience of triumph and abasement. Brandabur combines literary criticism and psychoanalytic perceptions in his analysis of Joyce's early work, particularly "Dubliners" and the only extant play, "Exiles"." (Publisher's blurb)