At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien

Let’s start with the James Joyce issue, and get it out of the way. Flann O’Brien—or Brian O’Nolan as he was known in private life—had either the good luck or misfortune to release his most famous novel At Swim-Two-Birds at almost the same moment that Mr. Joyce was unleashing his Finnegans Wake on the world. Given O'Brien’s experimental approach to narra…