Yesterday's post discussed the Court of Appeal's upholding of a non-solicitation agreement notwithstanding Section 16600 of the California Business & Professions Code.  Blue Mt. Enters. v. Owen, 2022 Cal. App. LEXIS 73.  The defendant also argued that his announcement of a competing business was not a solicitation.  The trial court disagreed, noting, among other things that the defendant's announcement letter was individualized and targeted.  The Court of Appeal agreed, finding that the issue could be decided as a matter of law.

Happy Birthday Ulysses (and James Joyce)!

A century ago on this date, a bookshop in Paris, France owned by the expatriate Sylvia Beach published one of the most consequential novels of the Twentieth Century, Ulysses.  The publication date also marked the author's fortieth birthday.  Previously, the Little Review published Ulysses in serial form until publication was stopped due to the efforts of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice.  Eventually, U.S. District Judge John Woolsey would rule that the book could be legally admitted to the United States.  See Yes! Today Is Bloomsday!

Ulysses has a reputation for being a tough read, but its wit and creative exuberance make it a joy to read (or listen to as an audiobook).  It is a story of a fatherless son, a sonless father, death in life and birth, marriage and estrangement, and yes, in the end, hope.  

Every life is many days, day after day.  We walk through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants, old men, young men, wives, widows, brothers-in-law.  But always meeting ourselves.

Ulysses,  Chapter 9 (Scylla & Charybdis)