Obscene, dangerous, profane, racist!

It’s difficult to believe these words have been used to describe the classic works of Mark Twain, Harper Lee and William Shakespeare. Yet at some point in the last fifty years anyone of these terms has been used to place a ban on such familiar authors as Joseph Heller, Judy Blume, J.D. Salinger, Stephen King, Alice Walker and Arthur Miller. Twain, Lee and Shakespeare have all been labeled racist for their honest portrayal of contemporary attitudes and James Joyce’s Dublin masterpeice, Ulysses, has become the main target for a number of censorship cases, as outlined in Paul Vanderheim's book, James Joyce and Censorship, the trials of Ulysses (available in the BLRC collection).

The list of challenged books and plays below provide a measure of the profound effect literature has on a nation and its culture, serving to remind everyone of the value of intellectual freedom. For this reason libraries, book sellers and readers take time every September to observe Banned Book Week and draw attention to the many works of literature that have been challenged. For additional lists of recently challenged books and most frequently challenged books of the 1990’s go to the American Library Association links below.

Lord of the Flies

The Diary of Anne Frank
The Living Bible

Farewell to Arms
Catcher in the Rye

East of Eden
Brave New World

The Grapes of Wrath
Catch-22

Huckleberry Finn
A Clockwork Orange

I know why the caged bird sings
The Color Purple

The Red Pony
The Crucible

To Kill a Mockingbird
Death of a Salesman

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Challenged books 2000-2005: http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/topten2000to2005.htm
Most frequently challenged books of the 1990’s: http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm