Great Disappointments

Gore Vidal once described Moby Dick as “a very bad masterpiece,” and most readers will understand exactly what he meant. Notwithstanding the book’s mythic grandeur, that huge chapter on “the whiteness of the whale,” for instance, has to be one of the most indigestible bits of fiction ever written.

It was in the same spirit as Vidal’s observation that the LRC editorial staff planned this December’s holiday feature. We approached ten regular contributors to the magazine and asked each to tell us about some widely acclaimed book that had nevertheless failed to live up to his or her great expectations. Written works from every field and genre across the ages were eligible, but we overwhelmingly received lively condemnations of prominent modern fictions. That said, regular readers will doubtless remember the sole non-fiction entry from...