July 25, 2008
Obscene in the Extreme: Why Books Still Get Banned
The electrifying national bestseller The Grapes of Wrath was burned and banned in 1939 in Kern County, California—the Joads’ newfound home. “If that book is banned today,” asked the local librarian, “what book will be banned tomorrow?”
Today, about 500 books are formally challenged each year. Why are we still so afraid of the free exchange of ideas? Does government have a legitimate interest in monitoring the flow of information or “safeguarding public morality” in the bookstore, library, or school? What have been the most innovative and successful push-backs used by booksellers and librarians in local communities when challenged?
Nicholas Goldberg, Editor, Op-Ed and Sunday Opinion for the Los Angeles Times leads this rousing session – Obscene in the Extreme: Why Books Still Get Banned.
Goldberg is joined by panelists Chris Finan, President of ABFFE (American Booksellers Foundation for Freedom of Expression) and author of From The Palmer Raids to the Patriot Act: A History of the Fight for Free Speech in America; Luis Rodriguez, author of Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A., a critically-acclaimed memoir of LA gang life that has been on the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books list; and Rick Wartzman, author of Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath.
