If you really want a good stinker, read no further than "Lo!" by Charles Fort. It's supposed to explain all kinds of weird phenomena with theories such as teleportation and alternate dimensions, and it's written in an insufferably smug, self-satisfied tone. The way Fort cites sources is especially obnoxious; he will "prove" his claims by saying things like "see works by noted alchemists," or something similarly vague. I couldn't get further than ten pages but a very good friend of mine who read it all the way through says it is just as bad till the end.
If you really want a good stinker, read no further than "Lo!" by Charles Fort. It's supposed to explain all kinds of weird phenomena with theories such as teleportation and alternate dimensions, and it's written in an insufferably smug, self-satisfied tone. The way Fort cites sources is especially obnoxious; he will "prove" his claims by saying things like "see works by noted alchemists," or something similarly vague. I couldn't get further than ten pages but a very good friend of mine who read it all the way through says it is just as bad till the end.