Joyce's brilliant command of the English language combined with his fierce ability to combine elements of classical literature with radically new techniques makes this the work of the century. This book requires many readings, but it will stay in your mind and your heart for the rest of your life.

Musil's unfinished opus is a masterpiece of European thinking. This protracted novel is a magnificent metaphor for the collapse of Europe in the 20th century.

My bid for the American novel of the century. Fitzgerald's prose is so elegant it's almost poetry.

Nabokov's disturbing tale of a love affair between a professor and a young girl is a mordantly brilliant metaphor for the relationship between Europe and America. A novel for the ages.

Kafka was the greatest German-language writer of our time. This collection of stories represents the single most important contribution to modern literature of the century.

Rilke's magnificently beautiful poetry is the most intelligent and serene of any European poet.

Hemingway completely changed the way short stories are written. Look at Hills Like White Elephants for a beautifully melancholy story.

Pound desperately and beautifully sought to preserve Western (and Eastern) culture through this huge and wonderful collection of poetry.

Beckett redefined modern theater as we know it.

A magnificent portrait of the fall of the English aristocracy and the destruction of youth and friendship.

Magical realism at its peak.

Redefining genres.

A devastating portrait of alcoholism.

Perhaps the essential tale of colonialism.