Colin McEnroe Show: Banning Books in America
Do all of us have a book we'd secretly like to burn?
On a couple of occasions last fall, very nice people approached me to ask if I would support a ban or a boycott of "In the Middle of the Night," Brian McDonald's book about the Petit murders. I tried to politely and passively let these requests expire. The circumstances under which I would support a ban or boycott of any book are difficult to imagine.
The people who did not have the option of being passive were public librarians, many of whom had to make a difficult choice about whether to stock a book written heavily from the perspective of the accused murderer. The book appeared, also, to have violated a judge's gag order in the case.
The people who wanted to ban this book were, for the most part, people who would never dream of infringing on the first amendment for other reasons. But that's the challenge -- supporting the book you really hate.
You can join the conversation below, send us your e-mails at colin@wnpr.org or Tweet us @wnprcolin.
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E-mail from Karl
Three questions for your guests:
How much non-factuality does a "non-fiction" bestseller have to have before a library doesn't consider buying it?
Is this a greater issue than 30 or 50 years ago; do libraries now consider some publishing houses as more reliable for fact-checking than others?
Do the bulk-buying admissions, as shown on the NYTimes bestseller list and other places, influence a librarians' idea of how popular a book really is?
Thanks,
Karl in Bloomfield
PS Kudos to the librarians who pushed back against the FBI's request for library user info. This was at a time, I believe, when listening to Colin's previous radio show in speakers in public would get one one a list someplace.
E-mail from James
Good Day,
We know of books that were banned that have since become a standard part of our essential literature. Are there any books that were considered acceptable upon its initial publishing but has grown into a banned text?
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