*New York Times* literary canon Archives

The New York Times’ Legendary 20th Century Literary Canon: Why These Books Still Define Us

February 27, 2026 · admin · Best

The *New York Times* has long been the arbiter of cultural taste, and its lists of the “best books of the 20th century” are more than just rankings—they’re a mirror reflecting the…

var eztoc_smooth_local = {"scroll_offset":"30","add_request_uri":"","add_self_reference_link":""}; //# sourceURL=eztoc-scroll-scriptjs-js-extra var ezTOC = {"smooth_scroll":"1","visibility_hide_by_default":"","scroll_offset":"30","fallbackIcon":"\u003Cspan class=\"\"\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\"\u003EToggle\u003C/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"\u003E\u003Csvg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"\u003E\u003Cpath d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\u003E\u003C/path\u003E\u003C/svg\u003E\u003Csvg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"\u003E\u003Cpath d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"/\u003E\u003C/svg\u003E\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/span\u003E","chamomile_theme_is_on":""}; //# sourceURL=eztoc-js-js-extra