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Wishing everybody the best from someone who knows exactly what you're all going through

Tweed.

There's an audio lecture series by James Heffernan that's very good and quite accessible for context and interpretation. I'd also recommend a good audio book version (avoid the free online ones, as they tend to be lifeless) to help you track the nuances of when the various voices shift. Joyce doesn't really use punctuation per se, so it can be tricky to follow the characters' thought processes as they tend to bounce all over the place, oftentimes relating to different parts of the text. You might also want to take a look some of the fantastic online annotations such as Columbia's: http://www.columbia.edu/~fms5/ulys.htm -- as they can help you discern the points when the voices shift. Also, watch out for episode 3 (Proteus) as that tends to frustrate and capsize a lot of readers (it's one of the hardest chapters to read because it's the first time you really get blasted with the indirect discourse stuff. If you feel like you're sinking when trying to trudge through Stephen's mind in that episode, it's wise to remember that the scene is, after all, set on wet sand Those are the kind of tricks Joyce is playing throughout the book. For criticism, there's a fair amount out there -- but not as much as you might expect. Clive Hart is sort of the standard for interpretive analysis, and it's probably wise to read up on the schemas so you can get a sense of how they function within the work. Oh, and if you haven't read the Odyssey for a while, you might want to brush up on that (although Heffernan provides good summaraies of how the source is getting reworked). It's a wonderful, wonderful book; so incredibly full of life. Don't expect to wrestle and "get it" as it's just not that kind of art. If you can plough through it and just get a taste of what he accomplished, you'll realize that it's not something you simply read and set aside, but instead something that you re-read and return to -- or at least think about in various ways -- for the rest of your life. It's hard work, but there's nothing else like it.

Also keep in mind that some programs really invest in preparing their graduates for the market, so that's something to look at as well. I happen to know of one program in particular (an east coast program) that had crappy-ass placement until a new guy stepped into the role, worked his ass off for the students, and in that same year managed to bump their placement up to 100%.

Some great pronunciation resources here:

Last year there were a couple of notifications kinda early, and everyone else was notified on April 15th. And yes, it's usually 2 for fiction, 2 for poetry out of several hundred applicants. EDIT: Actually, if memory serves correct, there was a semi-early wave of rejections and then everyone else got theirs on 4/15 (by mail). They won't give out any info via phone / email. Considering the program isn't ranked super duper highly (for English at least) it's one of the most competetive programs out there because of location, faculty, and mind-blowingly good funding. They do take students with just the BA, but more often than not, it's MFA students who have published (I know a bunch of them).

Pretty much. But what he was doing was essentially the literary equivalent to other "difficult" art work of the time. While his work is clearly not for everyone, I'm pretty sure art is supposed to be difficult / challenging. In that respect, no one has really even come close to the formal innovations he was pulling off in Ulysses and Wake. I also had to read a couple of her books and, given her status, I was shocked by how poor they were.

Congrats to that last batch of accepts! It's a huge relief just to know that you're going somewhere. For everyone still waiting, hang in there!

Congrats, TripWilliis! Keeping fingers crossed for everyone else!

I'll second that. In fact I'm studying it right now! It is a bitch, though. Studying for the GRE alerted me to just how much I haven't read, and I'm looking forward to playing catch up while reading for quals.

Stephen Fry sort of talking about this topic. Watch from about 1:30 to 3:30. (EDIT: Actually, it's worth going beyond the 3:30 mark.)

I really don't have much insight there, I'm afraid. I do know that the people who are doing the kind of interdisciplinary work that interests me in my own program are split between English and Comparative Lit, but I couldn't say which would be more lucrative in the long run. I guess it might come down to what role languages would play in your work?

If you play your cards right, it could really work in your favor. Given this market, interdisciplinary work is quite desirable for a committee, and many departments welcome that with open arms. The trick will be selling yourself as a candidate who seeks to build such critical bridges to an encouraging, dynamic program. Plus, your teaching experience, while not at the college level, could be helpful in landing you some financing. Were I you, I'd begin the search for who's doing similar work to your own interests, get some nifty writing samples knocked together than demonstrate your approach, and then give it a shot.

When they pulled the same kind of shit on me, the only thing that worked was continual calling and escalating the calls. I just kept on calling them out about how they said they'd return calls and didn't. And by the end of the week, the last person I spoke with (some kind of manager) cut me off, set the phone down, and shouted to the person who originally answered the call, "just give him what he wants." You can only run a scam so far before somebody will call you out on it, so I'd suggest just keep calling them out unless time is a huge issue or you've got money to burn.