James Joyce (1882-1941)

His "Ulysses", modeled on Homer's epic, an account of one day in the lives of a Dublin salesman, his wife, and a teacher is considered by some as the most influential novel of the 20th century. George Bernard Shaw praised it but then declined a request to buy it saying, in his typically disparaging style, "If you imagine any Irishman would pay 150 francs for a book, you know little of my countrymen."