Arguably the most influential writer of the 20th century, James Augustine Joyce redefined the novel and reinvented modern fictional technique. Born in Dublin, Joyce’s first important work is a short story collection, Dubliners  (1914). In his novel, A  Portrait of  the Artist as a Young Man  (1916), he employed "stream of consciousness" to reveal character. With his masterpiece Ulysses  (1922) Joyce attained international fame. Finnegans Wake  (1939) was his last and most complex work.