'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 the capital 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.