Page 3

PREFACE 
to the 1960 Edition 
This book may be said to owe its existence to a conversation that took place
one Sunday afternoon during the winter of 1931—2 at the home of my
friend Patrick Kirwan, novelist,. writer for stage and screen, and at that
time reader for the publishing house of Grayson and Grayson. We were at tea
when Mr. Rupert Grayson called and joined us. The conversation turned on
Joyce. Kirwan said that I ought to write a book about Joyce and that Grayson
and Grayson ought to publish it. Rupert Grayson tentatively fell in with
the suggestion. I agreed and said I would begin right away, for it seems
to be an occupational illusion of most painters that they can write a book
if they care to turn their hands to it. I very quickly realized, however,
that the first thing to do was to write to Joyce and, if possible, get his
blessing for the project. It would have been very difficult in any case to
get far if he expressly disapproved. 
 As may be seen from his correspondence, Joyce was at that time greatly worried
about his daughter's health and his own, and was also trying to get Ulysses
published and on sale in England. His reaction to my project appears in a
letter dated 
 March i 932, the relevant passage of which reads: ' Now as regards your
projected book, if Gorman and Louis Golding finish their biographies of me
and if Harmsworth publishes Charles Duff's J.J. and the plain reader with
a preface by Herbert Read yours will be the seventh book mainly about a text
which is unobtainable in England.' A reasoned scepticism is always a little
discouraging, butJoyce went on to say that he thought my method of approach
would probably be an original one, so that the green light was just visible.