Joyce's experimental masterpiece set a new standard for modernist fiction, pushing the English language past all previous thresholds in its quest to capture a day in the life of an Everyman in turn-of-the-century Dublin. Obliquely borrowing characters and situations from Homer's Odyssey , Joyce takes us on an internal odyssey along the current of thoughts, impressions, and experiences that make up the adventure of living an average day. As his characters stroll, eat, ruminate, and argue through the streets of Dublin, Joyce's stream-of-consciousness narrative artfully weaves events, emotions, and memories in a free flow of imagery and associations. Full of literary references, parody, and uncensored vulgarity, Ulysses has been considered controversial and challenging, but always brilliant and rewarding.

In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Ulysses No. 1 and A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man No. 3 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the twentieth century.

In 1999, Time magazine named Joyce one of the 100 most important people of the twentieth century and stated that ''Joyce . . . revolutionized 20th century fiction.''