This study makes the case that the novel's intricate self-consciousness begins as a very recognizable story: the 'Kunstlerroman.' In such a reading, Ulysses emerges as the story of the time-obsessed Stephen Dedalus, who desires to compose a masterful chronicle that will one day rival the timeless narratives of Ovid and Homer. McBride's analysis treats at length Stephen's poetic theories and compositions, examinig them as clear forerunners to the novel that the reader is reading. The culminating point is the claim that the figures of Leopold and Molly Bloom may be elaborate fictions created by Stephen.