Saturday Oct 04, 2008
The Week of Banned Books
It's Banned Books Week, of course, but not all the news is good. The New York Times, for instance, reports that Tango, penguin star of last year's most-challenged book, now comes from a broken home. In addition to some great visuals, here are a few of the thought-provoking posts on the topic.
- Feministe points out that the frequently-challenged list is one of the few on which male and female authors are equally represented.
- Challenged authors share the view from their side -- Chris Crutcher, Cynthia Lord, and Philip Pullman, among others.
- "Banned books" covers more than just Tango or Of Mice and Men. Are hardcore First Amendment supporters ready to stand up for books that make them squirm?
- When SIBA's Nicki Leone decided to read from one of the more obscure challenged titles, she didn't think she'd be getting so much attention.
- Where is the line between challenging a book and making it available in the right context?
Unsurprisingly, other things have been happening this week, too. Among them:
- A used bookstore has started accepting barter payments -- in preparation, they say, for the complete devaluation of US currency.
- Chronicle Books has a downloadable how-to-vote poster on their site.
- Shannon Hale says that if you find a moral in her books, she's not the one who put it there.
- Deanna Raybourn pleads with Anglophones to keep these words in the language.
- Stephanie Pearl-McPhee tears apart the Canadian PM's contention that the arts "don't resonate" with ordinary people.
- And Alan Cooperman wonders why other arts can find philanthropic support, but (generally) not books.
- Dave Eggers has had it with claims that kids today don't read books.
- Want to start an argument? Display a copy of this cartoon in your SF/F section.
Posted at 12:26AM Oct 04, 2008 by Sarah Rettger in General |
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