Dr Frances Devlin-Glass, Director of the annual James Joyce celebration Bloomsday Melbourne,  sees Joyce's Modernism at work in McBride's novel. Chris and Frances find McBride having fun with language, the written sentence, and even typesetting at the same time as she explores the complex relations between recovering addict Stephen, his much younger partner Eily, and Stephen's daughter Grace. Chris and Frances discuss formal experimentation too: the plot centres on Stephen screening an autobiographical film. McBride embeds the screenplay in The City Changes its Face alongside studies of the characters' reactions. Through the fuss over the film, and the reunion with Grace, the sexually assertive Eily becomes jealous over Stephen. McBride invokes her range of inventiveness to portray Eily's anguish. But would a fan of Molly Bloom want Eily to be a stronger feminist?

LINKS:
Irish Books Podcast on Blogspot: https://irishbookspodcast.blogspot.com
Follow the Irish Books Podcast channel on WhatsApp


The Irish Books Podcast is proudly produced by East Coast Studio with support from the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Monash University

Dr Frances Devlin-Glass, Director of the annual James Joyce celebration <a href="https://www.bloomsdayinmelbourne.org.au">Bloomsday Melbourne</a>,&nbsp; sees Joyce's Modernism at work in McBride's novel. Chris and Frances find McBride having fun with language, the written sentence, and even typesetting at the same time as she explores the complex relations&nbsp;between recovering addict Stephen, his much younger partner Eily, and Stephen's daughter Grace. Chris and Frances discuss formal experimentation too: the plot centres on Stephen screening an autobiographical film. McBride embeds the screenplay in The City Changes its Face alongside studies of the characters' reactions. Through the fuss over the film, and the reunion with Grace, the sexually assertive Eily becomes jealous over Stephen. McBride invokes her range of inventiveness to portray Eily's anguish. But would a fan of Molly Bloom want Eily to be a stronger feminist?
LINKS: Irish Books Podcast on Blogspot: <a href="https://irishbookspodcast.blogspot.com/">https://irishbookspodcast.blogspot.com</a> <a href="https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBq5wu4SpkCEVjepD42">Follow the Irish Books Podcast channel on WhatsApp</a>
 The Irish Books Podcast is proudly produced by&nbsp;<a href="https://eastcoaststudio.com.au/">East Coast Studio</a> with support from the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Monash University

Each episode focuses on a single book to offer in-depth exploration of contemporary Irish writing, one of the the dominant presences in book shops, book groups, and writers’ festivals around the world. Guest experts on Irish culture join author and critic Chris Murray to explore the techniques, cultural resonances, and deeper meanings of the nation’s recent literature. Irish Books tackles prize winners and some of the biggest names in Irish writing today while also calling attention to emerging voices that deserve notice. Listeners will learn more about the books they loved and find out what they should read next.

Host @drchrismurray.bsky.social (Bluesky)

Read the blog at https://irishbookspodcast.blogspot.com

The Irish Books Podcast is produced by East Coast Studio with support from the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Monash University

Each episode focuses on a single book to offer in-depth exploration of contemporary Irish writing, one of the the dominant presences in book shops, book groups, and writers&rsquo; festivals around the world. Guest experts on Irish culture join author and critic Chris Murray to explore the techniques, cultural resonances, and deeper meanings of the nation&rsquo;s recent literature. Irish Books tackles prize winners and some of the biggest names in Irish writing today while also calling attention to emerging voices that deserve notice. Listeners will learn more about the books they loved and find out what they should read next.
Host <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/drchrismurray.bsky.social">@drchrismurray.bsky.social </a>(Bluesky)
Read the blog at <a href="https://irishbookspodcast.blogspot.com">https://irishbookspodcast.blogspot.com</a>
The Irish Books Podcast is produced by&nbsp;<a href="https://eastcoaststudio.com.au/">East Coast Studio</a> with support from the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Monash University