A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story by James Joyce, published in 1916. It is the story of the growth and education of Stephen Dadelus, an alter-ego for Joyce. The work pioneers some of Joyce's techniques taht would later come to fruition in Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake.
The book is most noted for its stream of conciouness style that sets out to write exactly what the protagonist is thinking. Since the work covers the author aging from a boy to a man the style of the work is very different in each of its five sections, with the complexity and vocabulary gradually increasing.
The book is set in Joyce's native Ireland, especailly in Dublin. It deals with many Irish issues such as the quest for autonomy and the role of the Catholic church.
