Bye Bye Braverman called him "The Joyce of Brighton Beach," suggesting by analogy a comparison between Markfield and this quintessentially Jewish neighborhood and the essential literary synergy between James Joyce and his native Dublin, but also suggesting other connections. The structure of Markfield's "To an Early Grave", and therefore of the movie based upon it, is to some extent a comic parallel of Joyce's novel "Ulysses", specifically "Episode 6" (which is commonly known as the "Hades" chapter) where protagonist Leopold Bloom and three friends travel in a carriage to attend the funeral of Patrick "Paddy" Dignam who has died in a drunken stupor.
Leopold Bloom is Leo who has the idea of how to make money from a failed play. In the 2005 film, after realizing his inner potential, Leo loudly asks "When's it gonna be Bloom's Day?" Hidden in the background of the office of Max Bialystock is a calendar marked for June 16, which is Bloomsday. Former Pink Floyd bandmate Roger Waters references Leopold Bloom in his song "" as sitting with Molly Malone. It has also been suggested by Jeffrey Meyer in "Orwell's Apocalypse: "Coming Up For Air, Modern Fiction Studies"" that George Orwell's primary character George Bowling in "Coming Up For