I am sure you are aware of this book - but just in case:
Nat Hentoff / THE DAY THEY CAME TO ARREST THE BOOK
First published in the USA by Delacorte Press, 1982
First published in Great Britain by Angus & Robertson, 1985
Reprints: Puffin, 1987 / Penguin Books, 1988
(Jacket text:)
Is *Huckleberry Finn* a valuable classic of American literature, or is it
racist, sexist and immoral? According to some of the parents and students
at George Mason High School, the book should be banned, and the principal
- not for the first time - agrees to remove the offending item from the
library shelves. But that's just the beginning of the story. Barney Roth,
editor of the school paper, decides that freedom is at stake and that this
censorship scandal should be exposed. Soon it has become a burning issue,
with parents, students and teachers taking one side or the other!
Readers will find plenty to agree and disagree with in this lively,
witty and provocative book about a very controversial subject.
(Note on the author:)
Nat Hentoff was born in Boston, Massachusetts. A graduate of Northeastern
University, he did graduate work at Harvard and studies at the Sorbonne,
in Paris, on a Fulbright fellowship. He is now a staff writer for the
"Village Voice" and the "New Yorker" and has been acclaimed for his
writing on questions of civil liberties and jazz.
(Review in Times Educational Supplement:)
The book is of importance to everyone ... it spells out the dangers of the
slippery slope we set our feet upon once we look at books with tunnel
vision, seeing only our own special selfish interests, instead of seeing
them in perspective and against wider background of free society.
Wolf Harranth
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