James Joyce's final masterpiece, Finnegans Wake, remains one of the twentieth century's boldest literary enigmas. An avant-garde epic composed in a language of dreams, it has captivated and perplexed readers for generations. Tales Told of Shem and Shaun presents three essential fragments from that magnum opus, opening a gateway to Joyce's visionary world. First published in 1929 while Finnegans Wake was still a "Work in Progress," these self-contained episodes invite readers to experience Joyce's daring genius in miniature. Upon their initial publication, these experimental tales both bewildered and fascinated Joyce's contemporaries-a testament to their originality and enduring mystique. For all its brevity, the collection is bold in scope, weaving mythic lore and irreverent humor with philosophical depth into a linguistic tapestry unlike any other. In these pages, symbolism, surreal humor, and linguistic invention abound. Joyce unleashes his full arsenal of wordplay and myth-making: an absurd fable recasts Aesop's industrious ant and carefree grasshopper as "The Ondt and the Gracehoper," pitting pragmatism against creativity in witty combat. Elsewhere, a preacherly Mookse spars with an impish Gripes in a satirical duel of wits. In another episode, a cryptic letter unearthed from a rubbish heap hints at hidden truths as muddled as the dream itself. Through such fantastical tales, Joyce's symbolic twins Shem and Shaun emerge as opposing forces of human nature, their rivalry embodying the conflict between chaos and order, art and authority. At once profound and delightfully subversive, Tales Told of Shem and Shaun distills the essence of Finnegans Wake's dreamscape: a place where every word teems with hidden meaning and comic possibility. As a self-contained glimpse into the dreamworld of Finnegans Wake, Tales Told of Shem and Shaun provides an ideal entry point for those intrigued by Joyce's most enigmatic creation but daunted by the complete novel. This new edition features a fresh typesetting and a newly written afterword that contextualizes the book's significance for contemporary readers, offering fresh insights into Joyce's visionary experiment.