James Stephens delighted in combining fantasy and reality. He may have found this a congenial literary mixture because his life contained so many contradictory aspects. He was small enough to be called "the Leprechaun of Irish literature," yet strong enough to be a member of a prizewinning amateur gymnastics team. Linked by some critics with W. B. Yeats, Lady Gregory, John Synge, and others as a writer of the Irish literary revival, his contributions to that group's mission came some twenty years too late. Often reduced to designation as "a friend" of James Joyce, George Moore, and George Russell (AE), he was more than a whimsical companion. AE sought him out because of an admiration for his poetry; Moore asked him to edit several of Moore's short stories; and Joyce suggested that he finish Finnegans Wake if Joyce could not do so. Joyce sensed some of the contradictions...