Readers of James Joyce's novel ULYSSES will recognize the central character in this brief but provocative novel as the father of Leopold Bloom, but in their wildest dreams most will never suppose the reality behind his peripatetic history. Born Rudolph Virag into a Jewish family living in the Hapsburg Empire in and around the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, we know from Joyce's narrative that he lived at various times in Budapest, Vienna, Milan, Florence, London, and Dublin. Yet the reader is never given an explanation of why Rudolph was in those cities and what he did there.

THE CURIOUS ODYSSEY OF RUDOLPH BLOOM creates, for the first time, a backstory for this character. And what a story it is. Here we find Rudolph is a master tailor who manages a family project in Milan to provide buttons for the Hapsburg Empire's occupying army. In Italy, he discovers the world of great opera and art. But more importantly, Rudolph finds the great love of his life in Peppino, a Florentine man who is his project supervisor.

After the quartermaster's project ends, Peppino and Rudolph move to Florence and open a small hotel catering to foreign travelers. They become part of a bohemian community, which never questions their loving relationship. It is a wonderful life until Peppino dies and the hotel is legally removed from Rudolph by the Italian relatives of his late lover.

Rudolph then continues his travels to London, where he engages is various pursuits as befit his background. At age 50, he meets and marries his cousin, Ellen Higgins, resettles in Dublin, and converts to Christianity. Within a year their son Leopold is born.

The story is told in two parts through Bloom's own memoir and reconstruction of the history with the sleuthing of none other than the two literary giants, Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker.

A cracking good, satisfying tale, coming out on February 2, 2022, the 100th anniversary of the publication of Ulysses.