Dubliners is one of the most magnificent short story collections in the English language. The manuscript was sent to the English publisher, Grant Richards in late 1905. After initial enthusiasm for the book, Richards became uncomfortable about sexual explicitness and possible legal implications which could result from this. In 1909 Joyce stopped persuading Grant Richards for publication of the book and sent it to the Irish publisher, Maunsel & Company. There the book was printed, but the stock was destroyed before its release fearing libel action. Ultimately the book was printed and released by Grant Richards in 1914. In Dubliners, Joyce portrays the denizens of the city of his birth, from the young boy facing death in the first story, "The Sisters", to the middle-aged Gabriel of the haunting final story, "The Dead". He rebels against social and literary conventions, against Catholicism, and against Dublin, the city at the centre of this excellent collection of stories.