Dubliners (Essential Penguin) (The Penguin English Library)

'In Joyce's eyes, Dublin is the whole world' - J G Ballard

Candid, controversial and often disturbing, James Joyce's collection of stories on Dublin life shocked readers at the beginning of the century with their startling realism.

Unlike thecapital of today, the Dublin Joyce describes is a tired, often seedy world of pubs, rented rooms and boarding houses, exposed in unflinching detail. His stories explore sexual desire and sexual exploitation, domestic violence, corruption and death -the latter most famously in The Dead, which was made into a haunting film starring Anjelica Huston. Yet alongside the social decline and personal failure there is still an abiding affection for his native city.

Cambridge Literature is a series of literary texts edited for study by students aged 14-18 in English-speaking classrooms. It will include novels, poetry, short stories, essays, travel-writing and other non-fiction. The series will be extensive and open-ended and will provide school students with a range of edited texts taken from a wide geographical spread.