Josh-da-man

There's no surer way to murder a book than to turn it into a homework assignment.

I think that's one reason I hate Hemingway to this day.

brainee

Which exactly explains the bulk of this list. Like a lot of things in life, a strong impression made at a young age can last a lifetime. It really depends upon the teacher. I had one nun in high school who, in an attempt to make her tests "Cliff Notes proof", would require everyone to memorize the stupidest details of books. Utterly ruined authors such as Hemingway, Henry James, James Joyce, Jane Austen, and others for me. Including Goldman's "Lord of the Flies".

lizard

Not necessarily. There were many assigned books that I liked. Les Miserables (loved it), Huckleberry Finn and other Twain works (he became a favorite author for me), numerous Shakespeare plays (I became a big fan), The Odyssey, Gulliver's Travels, several Dickens books, Madame Bovary, The Birds, To Kill a Mockingbird (loved it), Two Years Before the Mast, and so forth. There were also others that I wouldn't really want to read on my own but I'm glad I was exposed to them, for example Gargantua and Pantagruel, Romance of the Rose, Moby Dick, The Republic, The Prince, some books by Freud, and the like. Then there were a few I hated or found boring beyond belief (pretty much anything having to do with Philosophy, which I despise) For me it was Steinbeck. I had to read The Pearl in grade school and didn't like it. I've avoided Steinbeck to this day, to the dismay of my library director friend who considers him a favorite author.

terrible chong

William Golding. At least get his name right.

Hokeyboy

His hackfest biography on John Lennon was beyond atrocious. No wonder they kicked his trombone-playing ass out of the band.

story

If this list of "worst books" was written by someone with credentials, great. Instead, it's by a slew of anonymous people who hated assigned reading in high school, hated how their parents handled their initial exposure to religion, and who hated any book that "everyone" was reading. Basically, it's made by the Internet.

dkedvd

Book? Whats a book? Aren't they those detailed movie scripts they sell in stores like Borders?

crazyronin

Anything by Stephen King. After reading Cell I was tempted to drive up to Bangor and drop off the book and a burning bag of dog crap on his doorstep. Instead I crossed him of my "to read" list permanently. Too many disappointment, Big Steve.