A poll of Nieman Fellows shows that they consider these 19 books the worst they have ever read:

Katherine Coman's "Economic Beginnings of the Far West" ("A hash of names and dates"), two votes.

Ernest Hemingway's "Across the River and into the Trees," three votes.

Channing's "History of the United States" ("As dry as Wheaties without cream, but not as filling").

Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" ("Unutterably dull").

Cooper's "The Deerslayer" ("Utter-ably but unprintable dull").

Melville's "Moby Dick" ("Overrated as a novel").

Proust's "Swann's Way" ("Badly written").

"Any how-to-write book which implies that writing is easy."

John Millett's "The Planning Process in Government" ("Dull, repetitive and valueless, yet it is required in at least three courses").

John Keynes' "General Theory of Economics and Money" ("Absolutely incomprehensible").

St. Augustine's "Confessions" ("Dull, opaque").

John T. Flynn's "The Road Ahead" ("Need I explain this nomination?")

Kathleen Winsor's "Forever Amber" ("Banned in Boston, but in this case, that didn't guarantee merit").

Harry Overstreet's "The Mature Mind."