This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classic includes a glossary and reader"s notes to help the modern reader appreciate the richness of Joyce"s language, historical and literary allusions, and complex narrative style. James Joyce"s semi-autobiographical account of a young writer"s growth from birth to early adulthood is at times poignant, at times laugh-out-loud funny, and at times spiritually and psychologically challenging. One of Joyce"s first forays into stream-of-consciousness, Portrait gives the reader a front-row seat in the mind of a developing genius, from Stephen Dedalus"s first awareness of language ("Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road...") to his final decision to leave family and homeland in search of his own artistic vision ("Old father, old artificer, stand me now and ever in good stead"). A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is the first novel-length work of a man who would become one of the most influential literary figures of the twentieth century. It is the coming-of-age story of a young man, an artist, a nation, and a culture. Portrait is a must-read for any serious student of literature and literary thought.