Just Do It

Bloomsday 101

by Tami Fertig

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Published: Jun 11, 2008

Bloomsday 101, Sun., June 15, 7-9 p.m., free, Fergie's Pub, 1214 Sansom St.; Bloomsday, Mon., June 16, noon-7 p.m., free, Rosenbach Museum & Library, 2008-2010 Delancey Place, 215-732-1600, rosenbach.org

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On all other days, you may toil away at Ulysses alone. But on June 16, the anniversary of the day Leopold Bloom took his 800-page stroll through Dublin, you must pack up your Joyce and head to Delancey Place. See, every year on Bloomsday, the folks at the Rosenbach Museum enlist the help of local celebrities to do your reading for you. Even if you've finished the whole thing on your own, the book still begs to be recited, what with its sing-songy prose and larger-than-life characters.

More than 100 people, including Pig Iron's Gabriel Quinn Bauriedel, Marty Moss-Coane and — oh boy — Ed Rendell, will work their way through the 250,000-word tome starting at noon, with interludes by singers from the Academy of Vocal Arts. (Those with shorter attention spans should attend Bloomsday 101 the night before, a one-hour class led by former Rosenbach associate director Michael Barsanti, known for his four-minute rendition of the novel.) During AC breaks inside the museum, check out "Picturing Ulysses," on display throughout the month of June, which features illustrations from the book, drawings of Joyce and a comic strip adaptation-in-progress by Philly artist Robert Berry.

Finish the day off with a beer at McGillin's Olde Ale House (1310 Drury St.), on the house if you flash any book by Joyce. You've got the rest of the year to actually read it.

 

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