1889: Three Men in a Boat
Author: Jerome K. Jerome
This long-lived comedic account of travel along the Thames was considered in somewhat poor taste when first published. Popular when initially published, this book continues to live on, mainly as a meme of TV, stage, and the written word. Several TV and movie adaptations of the title have been made, and Connie Willis published a sci-fi novel in 1997 that gave nod to the book, titling her work ‘To Say Nothing of the Dog’.