Hello,
I write about books for the Wall Street Journal and am putting together a story about some of the "worst books" lists coming out. I saw a thread on books blogs by Kristina Daniels, who asked "What is the Absolutely Worst Book You've Ever Read?" and I hoped to interview her about why she raised the question and whether the responses surprised her.
I can be reached at the number below, or if you prefer, you can email me your contact information and a convenient time to call.
Thanks very much,
Alexandra Alter
The Wall Street Journal
1211 Avenue of the Americas, 4th floor
New York, NY 10036
Twilight (by far the most reported "worst book")
The Secret
Catcher In The Rye
Vampire Diaries
Gulliver's Travels
Time Travelor's Wife
Wicked
Digital Fortress
Blonde Roots
Skystone
Citizen Girl
The Gargoyle
The Life of Pi
The Polished Hoe
The God Whale
Passage To India
Ethan Frome
Women About Town
A Partisan's Daughter
Julia's Chocolate
and readers also responded with disliked authors and genres: Patterson, V.C. Andrews, Self Help Books
(to see more visit link above)
I guess I posed the question because I'm reading the top 100 books and wanted to investigate how many responses would include novels from that list. Random House.
For those of you that read my blog enteries on living through "Ulysses" (see archives), or have struggled through a monolith yourselves, the question "Worst Book?" is something readers like to share. Let's face it, we are more likely to respond to something we disliked than something we loved.....i.e. people will share a bad restaurant with more people than a good one.....or something like that. So book bloggers, What bad books have you read lately?
7 comments:
Too bad you got the e-mail too late. Without a doubt (and even though I'm not finished with it yet) Ulysses has got to be the worst book I've ever read. Incomprehensible can't even begin to describe it.
My eyes are still bleeding from it.
I stand by my original suggestion which is on your list - Citizen Girl! To be honest I haven't read anything that bad since that book.
I have started at #100 on the Modern Library list and am now at #83. There have been several books on the list that have KILLED ME DEAD. "The Ginger Man", "Under the Net", "The Magus", "Loving" and "Lord Jim" were all contenders for the worst book I've ever read.I wonder to myself what exactly the ML people were smoking when they put these books on the list.
It's a great question! I will enjoy checking back and seeing what other bloggers have to say. :)
Confederacy of Dunces. It was awful but I don't know if I can say I read it. I never finished it - nor will I ever finish it.
Although I also have to agree that I do not understand the hype about "Twilight" that seems to be sweeping the nation. I didn't care for it at all. :)
The Gargoyle. While the writing was really impressive, the story was utterly moronic, and it was impossible to feel anything at all for the characters. So bad.
I personally don't think Twilight is the worst book. I think the fourth installment, Breaking Dawn, is absolutely THE WORST ever.
Also The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown
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