TORONTO, ON—As 26-year-old Justin Sanchez sits on the subway and holds his newly purchased copy of James Joyce's Ulysses, he takes great care to ensure that his hands aren't blocking any part of the giant title predominantly displayed on the front.

"They say to not judge a book by its cover," says Sanchez. "But I really hope people judge me by this book cover."

As Sanchez reads the very large and intellectually challenging book, he periodically makes sure to say, "Oh that Leopold Bloom!" at an alarming volume while making sure to correctly pronounce the first name, which he looked up moments before stepping on the subway.

Onlookers were undoubtedly impressed by the 600-page book and certainly realize that a man reading it must be an intellectual titan who definitely didn't think the phrase was "Justin case" up until only a few days ago.

Sanchez began reading Ulysses as part of a book club set up by workplace bully Hisham Kelati, until he discovered, nearly 400 pages into the novel, that the book club didn't actually exist. "At that point," explains Sanchez. "I was simply too committed to the idea of people seeing me read this book."

"I'm such a book nerd," laughs Sanchez, loud enough so that others can hear. "I watched all of the Lord of the Rings books."

Asked when he expects to finish the book, Sanchez says he's unsure. He says he's looking into taking a speed-reading course so that he can be seen with more books without having to actually enjoy reading them.

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