James Stephens 
The Crock of Gold 

Taking up the major philosophical and psychological concerns of the early-twentieth century―over a decade before works by T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf, among others, would cement literary Modernism’s place in history―
The Crock of Gold is a groundbreaking and important work. The text centers on the Philosopher and his wife, the Thin Woman, who undergo a series of journeys and harrowing trials. Faced with danger both human and divine, the two characters are forced to weather the winds of change in order to change themselves. Divided into six books,  
The Crock of Gold―no doubt inspired by the Irish oral tradition of storytelling―follows the Philosopher’s quest to save the most beautiful woman in the world; his encounter with the gods who have captured her; his return home and arrest for murder (he has been framed by leprechauns incensed at the loss of their crock of gold); and finally, the Thin Woman’s quest to find the fabled Three Infinites.