Billy Hough teaches
James Joyce's Ulysses
12 online sessions beginning Wednesday, February 19 at 7pm EST
Billy Hough is back for a fifth Ulysses seminar. When he announced that last year would be his final class, the backlash he got from past and future students convinced him to lead one more trek through Dublin.
James Joyces’ Ulysses is likely the most famous novel of the 20th century. A towering work of literary genius, it has been banned, burned, used as a psychology textbook, and has launched hundreds of imitations since its publication in 1922. Joyce is wildly experimental, fantastically funny, yes, a little dirty, and certainly a reading experience unlike anything else in the canon. The book’s famous “difficulty” is a misunderstanding of Joyce’s intention—to give the reader a fully-immersive and multi-dimensional reading experience, which he certainly does. However, with some background information and a couple of sign posts, any serious reader can easily wind their way through the twisting streets of Dublin to find one of the most unique and rewarding experiences available in English.
The seminar takes place on Zoom and is a 12-week guide through James Joyce’s masterpiece. It is perfect if you’re revisiting Ulysses or reading it for the first time. Also good if you made the pesky New Year’s resolution to take down a classic tome, are looking for an antidote to “brain fog,” or crave a major distraction from the news.
Registration price includes a copy of Ulysses. Each class session will be 60 minutes.
Billy Hough is widely known as a musician, writer, interviewer and actor. His punk cabaret show “Scream Along with Billy” has played to full houses around the country, including the last 15 Easters at Joe’s Pub. He also fronts the punk band GarageDogs with his brothers. He wrote music for three of Oren Moverman’s films, and appeared in the “Deadwood” movie and last year’s “Drive Away Dolls.” Onstage he has played Mozart in “Amadeus,” Hamlet, and the one-man Beckett play “Krapp’s Last Tape.” He has been written about by Michael Cunningham, Courtney Love, Hilton Als and John Waters, who offered to marry Billy and his husband, Christopher Wilcox. He has been Raymond Pettibon’s studio assistant and McNally Jackson’s Event Planner, where he created the “How NOT to Write” series, in which he interviewed Ethan Coen, Marie Howe, Sloane Crosley and Nick Flynn. He and Lili Taylor created the audiobook for Cunningham’s “Wild Swan” and won an Audie award. When the pandemic led to the parade of book courses Billy taught Ovid and Bulgakov, initially, hesitant to lead a Ulysses seminar, as he assumed no one would be interested. He has since sold out two classes a year for the last four years. His prized possession is a handmade Christmas card from Patti Smith.