Banned Book Week
Hey all, it's Banned Book Week! You know what that means? It's time for me to froth at the mouth while reviewing the reasons books get banned (oddly, "because people are twatwaffles" is never listed as the reason). Anyhoo, to celebrate this dubious wonder, y'all should take a gander at the ALA's 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books . It's sure to make you say WTF at least five times.
Then go buy and read a banned book! Or share your favorite book from that list and why it's absolutely batshit for it to be banned. The ladies at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books are having a review contest. You submit a review of one of the banned books and you might win a bracelet of banned book covers (rendered small and metallic, otherwise it's would be rather big and awkward to wear).
Portland Community College has a list of reasons why some of these books were challenged (from 2006). There's banned for "social reasons" and for "obscenity." Thus far my favorite is Joyce's Ulysses, reportedly banned in 1933 because it was considered impossible to read and obscene. Impossible to read is not a reason for banning I'd ever come across before. Wow.
If it was impossible to read how did they discover it was obscene?
Comments
There are t-waffles everywhere. As we say in my business, "...if it's in focus, it's porn, out of focus, it's art!"
Posted by: Mike Chapman | October 3, 2007 02:38 PM
I just re-read the list -- Pillars of the Earth?? Ordinary People?? WTF indeed! No one seems to care about Jack Bauer beating the bejesus out of people in prime time, but ideas from books? Horrors!
Posted by: Mike Chapman | October 4, 2007 08:41 AM