by Andrew J. Morris

The editorial board of the Modern Library, a division of Random House, asked some prominent scholars and writers to list their choices for the 100 best English language novels of the 20th Century. It comes as no surprise that James Joyce's works came out on top, with Ulysses taking first place and A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man in third. Between them in second place was Irish-American author F. Scott Fitzgerald with The Great Gatsby.

1. Ulysses by James Joyce
2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man
4. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
5. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
6. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
7. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
8. Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler
9. Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence
10. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck