Robert Amos

Robert Amos of Waywords and Meansigns
photo by Miles Lowry

Robert Amos has had a copy of Finnegans Wake since 1969. With the dawn of the Internet he began to study the book in earnest. In the 1990s he recorded the Wake on a cassette recorder so he could hear someone read it to him. Amos then wrote out the Wake with a fountain pen over the course of two and a half years, in preparation to make a solo complete recording of the Wake. That recording, done with patience and precision, endeavours to give every phoneme its due. Seventy-five hours in length, the recording took six years of sessions in a professional studio. The presentation of his Chapter Two with Waywords and Meansigns marks the debut of this production. Robert is an artist who lives in Victoria, Canada. His Joyce-related art works have appeared four times on the cover of the James Joyce Quarterly.

Robert Amos contributed to the first edition of Waywords and Meansigns, recording Book I Chapter 2 “The Humphriad I: His Agnomen and Reputation”, a collaboration with Chelidon Frame and Alan Ó Raghallaigh.

Credits — Robert Amos recorded by Robert Martin.

Robert Amos also contributed to the second edition of Waywords and Meansigns, recording Book II Chapter 1 “The Children’s Hour”.

Credits — recorded by Robert Martin.