Reading Groups

In Short: James Joyce's "The Dead" with William Mottolese

$50

1 Session

Out of stock

Wednesday, 6:30 pm EDT - 8:00 pm EDT August 13, 2025

The Center for Fiction

This single-session group is held in person at The Center for Fiction. Registration includes a complimentary drink from our Café & Bar.

“The Dead” is the last, longest, and most famous short story in James Joyce’s Dubliners, a realist collection of tales about the lives of the Dublin residents that Joyce knew well. A compact and lyrical narrative set in the home of Kate and Julia Morkan during their annual holiday party, the story features protagonist Gabriel Conroy, a young and aloof Dublin intellectual (like Joyce himself), who comes to grips with his own arrogance and fragile self-confidence when the powerful weight of his wife’s past returns to haunt his own life.

“The Dead” has the depth and complexity of a novella and the economy of a one-act play. While most of the stories in Dubliners have been characterized as cold and unforgiving, “The Dead” has a distinct warmth and emotional depth. That said, it is hardly an easy or straightforward read. Densely poetic and complexly autobiographical, the story concludes with one of the most perplexing and beautiful paragraphs James Joyce ever wrote.

What to read in advance of the first meeting: Please read “The Dead” in advance of the first meeting. A copy of the story will be emailed upon registration.

What to expect from this reading group: A seminar-like discussion after a brief introduction that provides context and supplemental information.

Reading List:

“The Dead” by James Joyce

Led by

William Mottolese

William Mottolese

William Mottolese has taught at Fordham University and Saint Joseph’s College in Indiana and is presently Co-Chair of the English Department at Sacred Heart Greenwich. He has published on such subjects as Olaudah Equiano, Laurence Sterne, and James Joyce and is presently at work on projects on Joyce, teaching critical thinking, and the relation of literary modernism to twentieth-century popular music. He has taught for a decade at The Center for Fiction, where he has led classes on James Joyce, David Foster Wallace, Salman Rushdie, Irish literature, and postcolonial literature. William is an award-winning teacher, published poet, and proud father of three children.

About this series

Reading Groups

Whether you’re looking to catch up on great novels or you’re interested in exploring a new writer or literary period, our reading groups offer high-level literary discussion led by experts in the field.

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