Michael Wilkins‘A memoir is like an underground stream that comes to the surface. You write for those who have gone before and for posterity as much as for yourself.’
These are the words of David Pierce. He is a York resident who has made a substantial contribution to literary criticism; spending a life time unravelling the complexities of Irish literature focusing particularly on the works of Joyce and Yeats. Indeed, his bestselling work ‘Reading Joyce’ (2007) is a must have for anyone tackling ‘Ulysses’. His work has been described by academics as “brave, richly informed, and candid”. He manages the balancing act of being both intellectually rigorous without ever excluding his readers. It is in honour of his diligent academic work that Janette Ray Rare and Out of Print Booksellers are hosting a launch for his autobiography ‘The Long Apprenticeship: A Writer’s Memoir.’
Finally, after decades of telling us all about the Masters, he’s going to let us know a little about himself. First released earlier this month, ‘The Long Apprenticeship’ promises to be a worthwhile read. Pierce relays to us the story of his father’s lost Jewish family, his life as a working class lad in a Catholic boarding school and his mother’s Irish heritage. However, the autobiography aims to be more than just a nostalgia trip. Pierce tries to make each scene a larger inquiry into the nature of consciousness and how we record and internalise the world.
If Pierce has ever helped you struggle through Yeats’s poetry or Joyce’s prose then come and help celebrate one of York’s esteemed sons. You will find Janette Ray Rare and Out of Print Booksellers on Bootham. It is a picturesque little shop offering rare and out of print books on architecture, fine art, design and gardens to clients within the UK and abroad.
For more information visit here.
