Last Wednesday, a new collection of works entered the public domain in America. That’s a very good thing, but not everything published in 1923 was good. Slate has taken the time to find some of the worst of it, based on contemporary reviews. For example:

The Right to Dream is about as untruthful as some lemon merengue pies. The froth, you know, looks diaphanously solid, but is as solid as sweetened water. Mix prussic acid with the meringue and you will have the idea of The Right to Dream.

So poetic! So mean!

Previously in terrible works entering the public domain: The Worst of 1923