Farrell himself claimed two principal literary forebears, Proust and Joyce.

Proust, whose Remembrance of Things Past (1913-1927) inspired Farrell's desire to write twenty-five novels, each a "panel of one work," provided an example of the attention to detail which Farrell evinces. Proust wrote endlessly about small events, demonstrating basically that there are no insignificant events, that each act has its impact on the individual. That realization fit in very well with Farrell's strong sense of determinism and with his penchant for filling his stories with detail, showing not just the major events in a main character's life, but seemingly every event in his characters' environment.

Joyce, on the other hand, provided a model for exploring the sub- and unconscious minds of characters, as well as an example of an author who works within an urban landscape. Joyce's imagery, his Dublin, and his Irish background all had...