Regarded today as one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, Ulysses entered the world in a firestorm of controversy. Denounced as obscure, unintelligible, nonsensical, and obscene, it was first published in Paris in 1922 and remained banned in the United States until 1933. Among the innovations that shocked and outraged critics were Joyce's revolutionary use of the interior monologue (better known as "stream of consciousness") and other experimental narrative techniques. Ulysses draws upon a complex network of symbolic parallels from mythology, history, and literature (including a framework and episodes that echo the Odyssey) to document an ordinary day in the lives of three Dubliners.